Carson-Newman, Tusculum Earn Bids To NCAA Baseball Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS -- South Atlantic Conference regular season champion Tusculum and Food Lion SAC Tournament champion Carson-Newman both earned bids to the 2007 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament.

For the third time in five years, the Tusculum College baseball team will be competing in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The 48-team, eight-region national bracket was announced by the NCAA office and the Pioneers (48-12) will be the No. 2 seed in the South Regional, which will be held May 17-20 in Tampa, Fla. on the campus of the University of Tampa.

Tusculum will face fifth-seeded Florida Southern College this Thursday at the University of Tampa Baseball Field at 3 p.m.

The Carson-Newman Eagles have earned the third seed in the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament and will travel to Tampa, Florida to compete against fourth seeded Florida Gulf Coast University on Thursday, May 17 at 7 p.m.

The Eagles (36-18) earned an automatic bid to the South Regional after winning the South Atlantic Conference Tournament on April 22. C-N will compete in the regional along with SAC foe and second seed Tusculum, fifth seed Florida Southern, sixth seed Stillman College, and tournament host University of Tampa, the defending 2006 Division II baseball champions and top seed of the South Regional.

The six-team, double-elimination South Regional will feature top-ranked Tampa, Tusculum, Carson-Newman College, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Southern and Stillman College. Tampa (Sunshine State Conference), Carson-Newman (South Atlantic Conference) and Stillman (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) each earned its respective league's automatic berths to the tournament, while Tusculum, Florida Southern and Florida Gulf Coast garnered at-large bids.

Tusculum returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. TC finished third in the Regional, posting an opening win over Tampa, before dropping a second round match-up against Florida Southern and a re-match with Tampa. The Pioneers also finished third at the South Regional during their first NCAA postseason appearance in 2003. TC dropped an opening contest to Florida Southern, but rallied with a late-inning win over Presbyterian College. The Pioneers lost in the elimination final to Tampa.

The winner of the South Regional will advance to the NCAA Division II College World Series, which will be held May 25-June 1 at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala.

Eagle fans can follow all the NCAA action via TeamLine by clicking on the "Listen Live" link on the C-N athletics website.

Tickets may be purchased at the gate and will be sold for $10 (adults) and $5 (students with ID/senior citizens).

Game Times

Thursday, May 17, 2007
Game 1 - #1 Tampa vs. #6 Stillman, 11:00 am
Game 2 - #2 Tusculum vs. #5 Florida Southern, 3:00 pm
Game 3 - #3 Carson-Newman vs. #4 Florida Gulf Coast, 7:00 pm

Friday, May 18, 2007
Game 4 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 11:00 am
Game 5 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3, 3:00 pm
Game 6 - Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 7:00 pm

If four teams remain after game 6, the schedule is as follows:
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Game 7 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 11:00 am
Game 8 - Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 6, 3:00 pm
Game 9 - Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7, 7:00 pm

Sunday, May 20, 2007
Game 10 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9, 1:00 pm
Game 11 - Same teams as first game (if necessary), 5:00 pm

If five teams remain after game 6, the schedule is as follows:
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Game 7 - Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:00 am
Game 8 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 3:00 pm
Game 9 - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 7:00 pm

If two teams remain after game 9, the schedule is as follows:
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Game 10 - Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 1:00 pm
Game 11 - If necessary, same teams as Game 10, 5:00 pm

If three teams remain after game 9, the schedule is as follows:
Sunday, May 20, 2006
Game 10 - Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, 1:00 pm
Game 11 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 5:00 pm