Wednesday, May 9, 2007

 

TUSCULUM BASEBALL RANKED SECOND IN NCAA SOUTH REGION

 

                INDIANAPOLIS --- The Tusculum College baseball team is listed second in this week's NCAA Division II South Region rankings announced College officials Wednesday.

 

                The Pioneers (48-12) hold the No. 2 spot in the region poll for a fourth consecutive week, behind top-ranked Tampa (42-9).  The Spartans went 3-0 last week to improve their region record to 31-7, while Tusculum has an impressive 28-7 worksheet for in-region games.

 

                Carson-Newman (36-18) stays at No. 3 in the region, while Florida Southern jumped two spots and is fourth in the poll following last weekend's three-game sweep of Lynn.  Florida Gulf Coast dropped one spot No. 5, while Barry made the biggest jump making its first appearance in the regional rankings.  The Buccaneers (32-23-1) swept a three-game series against Nova Southeastern and have won five of their last six contests.

 

                Catawba (32-19) jumped a spot and is seventh, while Lynn tumbled three spots to No. 8 in this week's rankings.

 

                Six teams will advance to the NCAA II South Region Championship, which will be held May 17-20 at a site yet to be determined.  Tampa, Carson-Newman and Stillman have already punched their respective tickets for the postseason.  Tampa captured the regular season title in the Sunshine State Conference, while C-N won the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament to earn the SAC's automatic bid. Stillman won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament last month.  Three teams will receive at-large berths to the regional championship, which will be announced on Sunday.

 

                The seven other regional rankings have been released and three Tusculum opponents continue to be mentioned.  Caldwell is fourth in the Northeast Region, while Concord is eighth in the North Atlantic.  USC Upstate is sixth in the South Atlantic Region.  TC has posted a combined 6-1 record against those teams, including a 13-4 home win over USC Upstate.

 

- NCAA -

 

NCAA II South Region Baseball Ranking

Rk.

Team

Overall

Region

Prv.

1

Tampa*

42-9

31-7

1

2

TUSCULUM

48-12

28-7

2

3

Carson-Newman*

36-18

21-7

3

4

Florida Southern

40-13

23-12

6

5

Florida Gulf Coast

38-15

30-13

4

6

Barry

32-23-1

23-21

NR

7

Catawba

32-19

16-16

8

8

Lynn

32-24

20-18

5

NR

Stillman*

26-20

19-6

-

* NCAA Tournament automatic qualifier