MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama baseball will open the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday at 9 a.m. against fourth-seeded Florida International, needing a tournament championship to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Jaguars enter the double-elimination event as the No. 5 seed after losing five of their final six regular-season games, a stretch that dropped them from first place in the league standings to fifth.
Senior Day Win Over Troy
South Alabama closed the regular season at home against Troy. The Trojans won the first two games of the series, but the Jaguars took Saturday’s Senior Day finale 11-10, sending their seniors out with a victory in their last regular-season game.
The late-season slide began on the road at FIU, where the Golden Panthers swept a three-game series from the Jaguars in Miami. South Alabama will now face FIU again in its tournament opener.
A Familiar Path
The last time South Alabama won the Sun Belt Tournament, in 2005, the Jaguars had also lost five of their last six regular-season games before claiming the title.
South Alabama must win the conference tournament, and its automatic bid, to advance to the NCAA field.
Tournament Field
Eight teams qualified for the tournament. In order of seeding, they are:
- 1. Florida Atlantic
- 2. Louisiana-Lafayette
- 3. Middle Tennessee
- 4. Florida International
- 5. South Alabama
- 6. Troy
- 7. Arkansas State
- 8. Western Kentucky
The tournament uses a double-elimination format, meaning a team must lose twice to be eliminated.
South Alabama plays its home games at Stanky Field on the university’s Mobile campus and competes in the Sun Belt Conference.
