Wednesday, May 7, 2008

TUSCULUM RANKED SECOND IN NCAA BASEBALL REGION POLL

INDIANAPOLIS --- For a third straight week, the Tusculum College baseball team is listed second in the latest NCAA Division II South Region rankings.

The Pioneers (40-13) have won eight of their last nine games, including last Saturday’s doubleheader sweep against sixth-ranked University of the Cumberlands (NAIA).

The top five remained the same in this week’s rankings. Defending national champion Tampa is the top-ranked team in the South Region for a fourth straight week. Tusculum is second, followed by South Atlantic Conference members Catawba and Carson-Newman. Florida Tech is fifth, while Nova Southeastern is sixth, followed by Lynn and Florida Southern.

Three teams in the region have already punched their ticket for next week’s NCAA II South Regional, to be held May 15-18. Tusculum won last month’s Food Lion SAC Tournament title, earning the league’s automatic bid. Tampa won the Sunshine State Conference Championship to earn the SSC bid, while Stillman will be the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference representative, winning the SIAC Tournament three weeks ago.

Three at-large bids for the South Region will also be awarded on Sunday when the 48-team NCAA Tournament field is announced.

Tusculum will be in Salisbury, N.C. for a pair of scrimmage contests as the Pioneers take on the No. 1 team in the country, Mount Olive. Those games will be played at Newman Park on the Catawba campus.

The 14^th-ranked Pioneers will have its final preparation contest on Sunday when they host No. 21 West Virginia State at Pioneer Park for a 2 p.m. contest. Both Mount Olive and West Virginia State have already clinched berths to the NCAA postseason.

- NCAA -

NCAA Division II South Region Rankings
Rk.	Team	Prv.
1	Tampa	1
2	TUSCULUM	2
3	Catawba	3
4	Carson-Newman	4
5	Florida Tech	5
6	Nova Southeastern	7
7	Lynn	6
8	Florida Southern	8
Tusculum Opponents in Italics