2024 Southern Conference baseball season
| 2024 Southern Conference baseball season | |
|---|---|
| League | Southern Conference |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN+ |
| Regular Season | |
| Season champions | UNC Greensboro |
| Season MVP | Caleb Cozart (UNCG) (Coaches); Cameron Sisneros (ETSU) (Media) |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Wofford |
| Runners-up | Samford |
| Finals MVP | Zac Cowan (WOF) |
The 2024 Southern Conference baseball season is the baseball season for the Southern Conference as part of the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball season. Samford was predicted to win the conference in the preseason poll.[1] The conference tournament was played from May 22 to May 26 at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, South Carolina.[2]
Regular Season[edit]
The Southern Conference began conference play on March 22, and conference play ended on May 18. Each team was scheduled to play 21 conference games, barring any cancellations.
In regular season play, UNC Greensboro won the outright SoCon regular season title by one game. The eight SoCon baseball coaches voted Caleb Cozart of UNC Greensboro as 2024 SoCon Player of the Year, while the SoCon Sports Media Association voted Cameron Sisneros of East Tennessee State as 2024 SoCon Baseball Player of the Year[3]. Both the coaches and media selected Michael Ross of Samford as 2024 SoCon Baseball Pitcher of the Year, Daniel Jackson of Wofford as 2024 SoCon Baseball Freshman of the Year, and Cody Ellis of UNC Greensboro was voted 2024 SoCon Baseball Coach of the Year[3].
Standings[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | CW | CL | CPCT | GB | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNC Greensboro (C) | 52 | 15 | 6 | .714 | — | 33 | 19 | .635 | Qualification for the third round |
| 2 | Samford | 54 | 14 | 7 | .667 | 1 | 34 | 20 | .630 | |
| 3 | East Tennessee State | 52 | 13 | 8 | .619 | 2 | 34 | 18 | .654 | Qualification for the second round |
| 4 | Western Carolina | 52 | 13 | 8 | .619 | 2 | 28 | 24 | .538 | |
| 5 | Wofford (T) | 52 | 12 | 8 | .600 | 2.5 | 35 | 17 | .673 | Qualification for the play-in round & NCAA tournament |
| 6 | VMI | 55 | 7 | 14 | .333 | 8 | 27 | 28 | .491 | Qualification for the play-in round |
| 7 | Mercer | 53 | 6 | 14 | .300 | 8.5 | 26 | 27 | .491 | |
| 8 | The Citadel | 52 | 3 | 18 | .143 | 12 | 21 | 31 | .404 |
Conference Game Results[edit]
Tournament[edit]
| Teams | 8 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination play-in, then six-team double-elimination tournament with championship game |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Wofford (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | J.J. Edwards (1st title) |
| MVP | Zac Cowan (WOF) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
The 2024 Southern Conference baseball tournament was held from May 22 through May 26 at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, South Carolina. The winner of the conference tournament received an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
All eight SoCon baseball teams participated in the tournament, with the bottom four seeds playing in a single-elimination play-in round. The remaining teams then played a six-team double-elimination tournament, with the top two seeds receiving byes into the third round, and the third and fourth placed teams playing the play-in round winners in the second round.[2] The Samford Bulldogs were defending champions, having won the 2023 edition of the tournament.
Both play-in round winners, the Wofford Terriers and Mercer Bears, made it to at least the second-to-last day of the tournament, with Mercer losing in the third round and the lower semifinal, and Wofford losing their semifinal matchup to Samford before beating the Bulldogs twice in the championship.
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers and Western Carolina Catamounts both received byes into the second round, but fell to their opponents from the play-in round. The Buccaneers made it all the way to the lower final after their initial defeat, but the Catamounts fell to Mercer in their next game.
The UNC Greensboro Spartans and Samford Bulldogs received byes into the third round as the top two regular season teams. The Spartans lost both of their games, while the Bulldogs won all of their games up until the championship series against Wofford, where they lost two games to the Terriers.
With these two wins in the championship, Wofford won their first SoCon tournament title since 2007, which until this year, was their only SoCon tournament victory and NCAA tournament berth in program history. Wofford right-handed pitcher Zac Cowan received the Walt Nadzak Award, which is named after Walt Nadzak and awarded to the tournament's most outstanding player.[6]
Bracket[edit]
| Play-in round | Second round | Third round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 3 | 1 | UNC Greensboro | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 1 | 4 | Western Carolina | 1 | 5 | Wofford | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Game 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Wofford | 8 | 5 | Wofford | 127 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Wofford | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | The Citadel | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Samford | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 4 | 2 | Samford | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 2 | 3 | East Tennessee State | 4 | 7 | Mercer | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | VMI | 14 | 7 | Mercer | 7 | Games 12 and 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Mercer | 19 | 2 | Samford | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Wofford | 10 | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lower third round | Lower semifinal | Lower final | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Game 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | East Tennessee State | 10 | Game 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | UNC Greensboro | 7 | Game 10 | 5 | Wofford | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | East Tennessee State | 12 | 3 | East Tennessee State | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Game 8 | 7 | Mercer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Western Carolina | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Mercer | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Southern Conference[2]
Schedule[edit]
| Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 (Wednesday, May 22) | |||||
| 1 | 3:00 p.m. | #5 Wofford vs. #8 The Citadel | 8-3 | [7] | |
| 2 | 7:00 p.m. | #6 VMI vs. #7 Mercer | 14-19 | [7] | |
| Day 2 (Thursday, May 23) | |||||
| 3 | 3:00 p.m. | #5 Wofford vs. #4 Western Carolina | 12-17 | [8] | |
| 4 | 7:00 p.m. | #7 Mercer vs. #3 East Tennessee State | 7-4 | [8] | |
| Day 3 (Friday, May 24) | |||||
| 5 | 9:00 a.m. | #5 Wofford vs. #1 UNC Greensboro | 5-2 | [9] | |
| 6 | 12:30 p.m. | #7 Mercer vs. #2 Samford | 7-9 | [9] | |
| 7 | 4:00 p.m. | #3 East Tennessee State vs. #1 UNC Greensboro | 10-7 | [10] | |
| 8 | 7:30 p.m. | #4 Western Carolina vs. #7 Mercer | 8-10 | [10] | |
| Day 4 (Saturday, May 25) | |||||
| 9 | 12:00 p.m. | #5 Wofford vs. #2 Samford | 1-10 | [11] | |
| 10 | 3:30 p.m. | #3 East Tennessee State vs. #7 Mercer | 12-4 | [12] | |
| 11 | 7:00 p.m. | #5 Wofford vs. #3 East Tennessee State | 13-10 | [12] | |
| Day 5 (Sunday, May 26) | |||||
| 12 | 12:00 p.m. | #2 Samford vs. #5 Wofford | 9-10 | [6] | |
| 13 | 3:40 p.m. | #2 Samford vs. #5 Wofford | 9-15 | [6] | |
| * Game times are in EDT. # Rankings denote tournament seed. Superscripted number next to scores denote games that use extra innings or the run rule. Source: Southern Conference[2] | |||||
Conference leaders[edit]
|
|
Conference leaders statistics include all regular season and SoCon tournament games, as of May 19, 2024.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Samford Tabbed as Favorite to Win SoCon Baseball Title". soconsports.com. Spartanburg, South Carolina. February 8, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "2024 Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ a b "SoCon Baseball Postseason Awards Announced". soconsports.con. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ "2024 Baseball Standings". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ "Baseball - Composite Schedule". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Wofford wins 2024 SoCon Baseball Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ a b "Wofford, Mercer Advance at SoCon Baseball Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ^ a b "Wofford, Mercer Win at SoCon Baseball Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
- ^ a b "Wofford, Samford Win at SoCon Baseball Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
- ^ a b "ETSU, Mercer Stay Alive at SoCon Baseball Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Samford tops Wofford to reach SoCon title tilt". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ a b "Wofford Wins to Advance at SoCon Baseball Championship". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 Baseball Overall Statistics". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.