The 1979 Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) baseball tournament, the first-ever for the league known since the 2001–02 school year as the Atlantic Sun Conference, was held at Centenary Park on the campus of Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, from May 10 through 13. Mercer won the first tournament championship. As a new conference, the TAAC did not have an automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
| Teams | 5 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Mercer (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Barry Myers (1st title) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer ‡ | 0 | – | 0 | – | 38 | – | 16 | .704 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma City | 0 | – | 0 | – | 31 | – | 23 | .574 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 0 | – | 0 | – | 28 | – | 19 | .596 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 0 | – | 0 | – | 22 | – | 26 | .458 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hardin–Simmons | 0 | – | 0 | – | 14 | – | 25 | .359 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ‡ – Tournament champion As of June 30, 1979[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format
editThe new league used a blind draw to determine matchups, and records for any earlier games between conference members are incomplete. The teams played a five team, double elimination tournament.[2][3]
Results
edit| Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Final | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma City | 6 | Oklahoma City | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 3 | Mercer | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hardin–Simmons | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hardin–Simmons | 7 | Hardin–Simmons | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 8 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma City | 11 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 3 | Lower final | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma City | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Centenary | 9* | Northeast Louisiana | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisiana | 10* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
* - Indicates game required 10 innings.
All-Tournament Team
editThe following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. No MVP was named until 1985.[4]
| POS | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| P | Ken McLeod | Hardin–Simmons |
| P | Dwight Erhard | Oklahoma City |
| P | Dan Fitzsimmons | Mercer |
| 1B | Jay Branham | Northeast Louisiana |
| 1B | Scott Halam | Mercer |
| OF | Steve Brumfield | Centenary |
| OF | Rusty Hamric | Hardin–Simmons |
| OF | Frank Millerd | Mercer |
| OF | Don Murphy | Oklahoma City |
| OF | Jay Ross | Mercer |
| DH | Tom Patman | Oklahoma City |
References
edit- ^ Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
- ^ Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
- ^ "2013 Media Guide". Mercer Bears. p. 71. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
- ^ Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 21. Retrieved September 21, 2013.