Catawba Moves to Fifth In NCAA Southeast Region Poll

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Catawba College Indians moved up one spot to fifth in the latest NCAA Division II Southeast Region poll. The rankings are through games completed as of Sunday, May 8.

Catawba, which concluded its season on May 1, has an overall record of 40-13 on the year and has the same record against in-region opponents.

Mount Olive remains atop the region with a 39-7 overall record (37-5 in region). Francis Marion (37-14, 32-14), UNC Pembroke (40-10, 36-10) and Columbus State (32-17, 29-16) round out the top four. Georgia College (35-17, 31-16), Armstrong Atlantic State (35-17, 21-15) and North Georgia (34-19, 31-17) are six through eight.

The top six teams will advance to the Southeast Regional tournament May 19-23. The NCAA tournament selections are scheduled to be announced at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 16. Tournament champions from the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and Peach Belt Conference will earn automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.

Wingate University (34-20), which is currently unranked, earned the SAC automatic bid by winning this year's conference tournament on April 23. Mount Olive claimed the automatic bid for Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference tournament championship is scheduled for May 12 at 1:00 p.m. to determine it's automatic bid.

The 2011 NCAA Tournament will have a field of 48 teams competing in eight regional sites in a six-team double-elimination tournament. The eight teams advancing from the regional competition will advance to the National Championship slated for May 28 - June 4 in Cary, N.C.

NCAA Division II Baseball Southeast Region Ranking

Through May 8, 2011

Rk. School Overall In-Region
1. Mount Olive 39-7 37-5
2. Francis Marion 37-14 32-14
3. UNC Pembroke 40-10 36-10
4. Columbus State 32-17 29-16
5. Catawba 40-13 40-13
6. Georgia College 35-17 31-16
7. Armstrong Atlantic 35-17 21-15
8. North Georgia 34-19 31-17