2021 Southern Conference baseball tournament

The 2021 Southern Conference baseball tournament was held from May 27 through 29 at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, South Carolina. The annual event determines the conference champion of the Division I Southern Conference in college baseball. The tournament winner earns the league's bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. This is the last of 20 athletic championships held by the conference in the 2020–21 academic year.[2]

2021 Southern Conference
baseball tournament
Teams4
FormatDouble-elimination
Finals site
ChampionsSamford (3rd title)
Winning coachCasey Dunn (3rd title)
MVPTowns King (Samford)
TelevisionSoCon DN
ESPN+ (Championship)
2021 Southern Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Blue
Samford  ‍‍y 20 10   .667 35 24   .593
East Tennessee State  ‍‍‍ 13 16   .448 24 25   .490
VMI  ‍‍‍ 13 17   .433 18 29   .383
UNC Greensboro  ‍‍‍ 12 18   .400 27 25   .519
Red
Wofford  ‍‍‍ 21 9   .700 36 21   .632
Mercer  ‍‍‍ 18 9   .667 35 22   .614
Western Carolina  ‍‍‍ 14 11   .560 28 21   .571
The Citadel  ‍‍‍ 4 25   .138 12 39   .235
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 5, 2021[1]
Rankings from D1Baseball

The tournament was originally held from 1950 to 1953, when the Southern Conference was a large conference composed of several small schools and several large schools, the latter of which would form the Atlantic Coast Conference after the 1953 season. The event was re-established in 1984 and has been held every year since with the exception of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled sporting events across the country. Western Carolina has claimed ten championships, the most of any school, with The Citadel close behind at eight tournament wins. Defending champion Mercer and Samford are the only other current schools with multiple championships, having each won two. East Tennessee State and VMI have never won a title, although they both returned to the conference in 2015 after over ten years in other conferences. Furman, which dropped its baseball program before the 2021 season, won two titles.

The tournament will be played in Greenville, which has hosted seven of the past eleven events, including the past four.[3]

Seeding and format

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In a change from most years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only four teams will participate. The top team from each division, and the next two teams by conference winning percentage, regardless of division, will qualify.[3]

Bracket

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First roundSemi-finalsFinals
1Wofford5
4Western Carolina16
4Western Carolina7
2Samford19
2Samford10
3Mercer8
2Samford8-
4Western Carolina6-
Lower round 1Lower final
1Wofford6
1Wofford84Western Carolina11
3Mercer7

References

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  1. ^ "Baseball standings". SoConSports.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  2. ^ "2020-21 Southern Conference Championship Schedule". soconsports.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "2021 Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved March 26, 2021.