Conference USA Baseball Tournament

Conference USA Baseball Tournament
Conference Baseball Championship
Sport Baseball
Conference Conference USA
Number of teams 8
Format Double Elimination
Current stadium Pete Taylor Park
Current location Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Played 1996-present
Last contest 2015
Current champion FIU (1)
Most championships Rice (6)
Official website ConferenceUSA.CSTV.com Baseball
Host stadiums
MGM Park (2017–19)
Pete Taylor Park (1996, 2005, 2009, 2014–16)
Reckling Park (2006, 2013)
Trustmark Park (2011-12)
Cougar Field (2004, 2010)
Turchin Stadium (1997, 2003, 2008)
Clark-LeClair Stadium (2007)
Grainger Stadium (2002)
Zephyr Field (1998, 2001)
Florida Power Park (2000)
USA Stadium (1999)
Host locations
Biloxi, MS (2017–19)
Hattiesburg, MS (1996, 2005, 2009, 2014–16)
Pearl, MS (2011-12)
Houston, TX (2004, 2006, 2010, 2013)
New Orleans, LA (1997-98, 2001, 2003, 2008)
Greenville, NC (2007)
Kinston, NC (2002)
St. Petersburg, FL (2000)
Millington, TN (1999)

The Conference USA Baseball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for Conference USA (C-USA). The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. The tournament format, which has changed several times, currently consists of an eight-team double-elimination tournament format, in which the winners of two four-team brackets play in a single-game final. Rice, which has won the tournament six times, is the most successful team in the tournament's history.[1]

History

The tournament was first held in 1996, the first season after Conference USA was formed from the merger of the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference.[2]

1996-1999

From 1996 to 1999, the tournament format consisted of an eight-team double-elimination tournament preceded by a single-game play-in round. The play-in round determined which of the lowest seeds (by regular season conference record) would qualify for the eight-team bracket. In 1996, when the league had nine baseball-sponsoring schools, the play-in round included the 8th and 9th seeds. When Houston joined from the Southwest Conference prior to the 1997 season, the play-in round featured the 7th10th seeds. The eight-team double-elimination tournament consisted of two four-team double-elimination brackets, the winners of which met in a single-game final.[1]

2000-2009

In the 2000 tournament, the play-in round was eliminated, and the top eight seeds qualified for the eight-team double-elimination tournament automatically. The eight-team bracket followed the same format as it had from 1996 to 1999.[1]

2010

In 2010, the tournament format was changed from double-elimination to round robin. The top six regular season finishers qualified for the tournament field, which consisted of two three-team "pods." Pod 1 included the 1st, 4th, and 5th seeds, and Pod 2 included the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th seeds. Each team played three preliminary games, two against its podmates and one against a team from the opposite group. The cross-group games matched up the seeds as follows: 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, and 3rd vs. 4th. The winner of each round robin pod advanced to a single-game final.[1]

2011-2013

In 2011, the round robin format was expanded to the top eight regular season finishers. The tournament field consisted of two four-team pods. Pod 1 included the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th seeds, and Pod 2 included the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th seeds. Each team played three preliminary games, one against each member of its pod. The winner of each pod advanced to a single-game game.[1]

2014–Present

Beginning in 2014, the format returned to the eight team double-elimination format used from 1996 through 2009.[3]

Champions

Year School Site MVP
1996 Tulane Pete Taylor ParkHattiesburg, MS Jason Fitzgerald (Tulane)
1997 Houston Turchin StadiumNew Orleans, LA Scottie Scott (Houston)
1998 Tulane Zephyr Field • New Orleans, LA Brian Hughes (Tulane)
1999 Tulane USA StadiumMillington, TN Mickey McKee (Tulane)
2000 Houston Florida Power ParkSt. Petersburg, FL Jarrod Bitter (Houston)
2001 Tulane Zephyr Field • New Orleans, LA Barth Melius (Tulane)
2002 East Carolina Grainger StadiumKinston, NC Darryl Lawhorn (East Carolina)
2003 Southern Miss Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA Clint King (Southern Miss)
2004 TCU Cougar FieldHouston, TX Austin Adams (TCU)
2005[lower-alpha 1] TCU
Tulane
Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Nathan Southard (Tulane)
2006 Rice Reckling Park • Houston, TX Joe Savery (Rice)
2007 Rice Clark-LeClair StadiumGreenville, NC Aaron Luna (Rice)
2008 Houston Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA Bryan Pounds (Houston)
2009 Rice Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Anthony Rendon (Rice)
2010 Southern Miss Cougar Field • Houston, TX Scott Copeland (Southern Miss)
2011 Rice Trustmark ParkPearl, MS Tyler Duffey (Rice)
2012 UAB Trustmark Park • Pearl, MS Michael Busby (UAB)
2013 Rice Reckling Park • Houston, TX[lower-alpha 2] Christian Stringer (Rice)
2014 Rice Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Michael Aquino (Rice)
2015 FIU Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS
2016 Southern Miss Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS
2017 MGM ParkBiloxi, MS[6]
2018 MGM Park • Biloxi, MS
2019 MGM Park • Biloxi, MS
  1. TCU and Tulane were declared co-champions by Conference USA in 2005 due to a cancelled championship game during bad weather.
  2. Trustmark Park opted out of its contract to host the tournament in 2013. Conference USA announced that it would be held at Reckling Park instead.[4][5]


By school

Current schools

School Appearances W-L Pct Tourney Titles Title Years
Rice 11 30-12 .714 6 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014
Southern Miss 21 44-35 .557 3 2003, 2010, 2016
UAB 16 19-29 .396 1 2012
FIU 3 5-4 .556 1 2015
Charlotte 8 11-14 .440
Marshall 5 7-10 .412
Old Dominion 3 3-6 .333
UTSA 2 4-4 .500
Florida Atlantic 2 3-4 .429
Middle Tennessee 2 3-4 .429
Louisiana Tech 1 3-2 .600
Western Kentucky 0 0-0 .000

Former schools

School Tourney Titles Title Years
East Carolina 1 2002
Houston 3 1997, 2000, 2008
TCU 2 2004, 2005
Tulane 5 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "2012 Conference USA Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). pp. 74–75. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-21. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  2. O'Connell, Jim (12 November 1995). "25 Tips on the 1996-1996 Season". The Mount Airy News. p. 5B. Archived from the original on 2012-06-23. Retrieved 23 June 2012. Conference USA will be the only new league, a merger of the Great Midwest and Metro conferences, ... .
  3. "Southern Miss to host 2014 C-USA Baseball Championship". Conference USA. October 10, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  4. Joseph Duarte (November 15, 2012). "Rice to host 2013 C-USA baseball tourney". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  5. TJ Werre (November 20, 2012). "C-USA Baseball Tournament Leaves Pearl". wjtv.com. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  6. Patrick Magee (November 11, 2015). "Biloxi to become Conference USA baseball tourney's new home in 2017-19". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. Retrieved November 12, 2015.

External links

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