Mount Olive baseball awarded Southeast Regional
By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on May 15, 2012 1:49 PM
MOC
Sports Information
MOUNT OLIVE -- Goal No. 2 accomplished.
Now on to goal No. 3.
A week of sweating out how a series-opening loss to Newberry (S.C.) College would affect its regional fate, Mount Olive College finally got the answer late Sunday evening.
It's home sweet home for the Trojans.
Mount Olive College earned the No. 1 seed and will play host for the second straight to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. The Trojans (44-8 overall) entertain sixth-seeded Lander University when the six-team, double-elimination gets underway Thursday at Scarborough Field.
First pitch is 7 p.m.
Third-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.) University faces fellow Peach Belt member Francis Marion (S.C.) University in the regional opener at 11 a.m. In the mid-afternoon contest, second-seeded Tusculum (Tenn.) tangles with South Atlantic Conference foe Catawba at 3 p.m.
Mount Olive, Armstrong Atlantic (40-14) and Tusculum (46-8) each emerged the automatic regional qualifier by winning its respective conference tournament. Catawba(39-14), Lander (37-18) and Francis Marion (37-16) each received an at-large bid. All six teams are ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Lineup top 30 poll with the Trojans, Tusculum, AASU and Francis Marion sitting among the top 11.
The Trojans are the No. 1 regional seed for the fourth time in the last six years. MOC finished runner-up to Columbus State (Ga.) University in the 2007 regionals contested at historic Grainger Stadium in Kinston. One year later, the Trojans won the Southeast and eventually claimed the 2008 NCAA Division II College World Series title with a victory over Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) in Sauget, Ill.
MOC defeated Francis Marion in the Southeast final last season and finished tied for third at the 2011 NCAA Division II CWS in Cary.