Mid-American Conference baseball tournament
The Mid-American Conference baseball tournament is the conference baseball championship of the Mid-American Conference, Division I members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2024, the top six finishers participate in the double-elimination tournament, which is played at the home field of the top seed. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The tournament began in 1981, but was not held from 1984 through 1991. It returned in 1992 and was held annually through 2019. It was scheduled to be played in May 2020, but was cancelled in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. As part of several changes announced in May 2020 related to the pandemic, the tournament was eliminated along with the post-season tournaments of seven other sports, for at least four seasons.[1] The tournament, however, returned in May 2022 after the conference announced in May 2021 that the baseball tournament, along with all other conference tournaments that had been eliminated, would be restored for the 2021–22 athletic season.[2] Kent State has won the most tournament titles with 12, followed by Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan with four each.
| Mid-American Conference baseball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference baseball championship | |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Conference | Mid-American Conference |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Format | Double-elimination |
| Played | 1981–1983 1992–2019 2022–present |
| Last contest | 2024 |
| Current champion | Western Michigan (2nd) |
| Most championships | Kent State (12) |
| Official website | getsomemaction.com/.. |
| Host stadiums | |
| Campus sites (1981, 1983, 1992–2007, 2022–2023) Franklin County Stadium (1982) V.A. Memorial Stadium (2008–2011) Crushers Stadium (2012–2019, 2024–present) | |
Format
editThe MAC baseball tournament is held in mid to late May at the conclusion of the regular season. As of 2024, the tournament is held at a neutral site and the top six teams in conference play qualify, with the top two seeds receiving byes to the second round. Although the number of qualifying teams has been as low as four and as high as eight, the tournament has always used a double-elimination bracket.
The first tournament, in 1981, featured only the top four conference finishers in a double-elimination format. The following two seasons, 1982 and 1983, the conference was divided into East and West divisions and the top two seeds from each division qualified. When the tournament returned in 1992, the original format featuring the top four teams was again used and remained in place through 1997. The 1992 tournament was also when the All-Tournament Team and Most Valuable Player award were instituted.
Beginning in 1998, the conference was again divided into East and West divisions for the regular season and the tournament format was expanded to a six-team field in a double-elimination bracket, with the top three finishers from each division qualifying. In 2001, the format changed from the top three in each division to the top six overall, regardless of division. The number of qualifying teams was expanded to eight in 2008 and remained there through the 2017 tournament, but was reduced back to six teams for the 2018 and 2019 tournaments following the decisions to shutter the baseball programs at Akron in 2015 and Buffalo in 2017. The separate divisions were also eliminated after the 2017 season.
When the tournament was reinstated in 2022, the original format of only the top four teams qualifying was instituted again and remained in place for 2023. The conference expanded the tournament back to six teams in 2024 as part of its return to a neutral location.[3]
Location
editInitially, the tournament was hosted by the top seed, with Central Michigan hosting the inaugural tournament in 1981 at Theunissen Stadium in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The following season, the MAC held the tournament at a neutral location, playing the 1982 tournament at Franklin County Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament returned to a campus site in 1983, being hosted by Western Michigan at Hyames Field in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
When the tournament was revived in 1992, it continued to be held at campus sites, usually the home field of the top seed. Kent State hosted the first three tournaments after it was revived at Gene Michael Field in Kent, Ohio. The top seed continued to host through the 2007 tournament.
The conference began using a neutral site in 2008. V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio, hosted the tournament from 2008 through 2011, followed by Crushers Stadium (initially known as All Pro Freight Stadium) in Avon, Ohio, where it remained from 2012 through 2019 and was scheduled to be held in 2020. Following the tournament's reinstatement in 2022, it was again held at campus sites in 2022 and 2023, but the conference announced in August 2023 that the tournament would return to Mercy Health Park in 2024 through at least 2026.[3]
Champions
editBy year
editThe following is a list of tournament champions and sites listed by year.[4][5][6][7]
| Year | Site | Champion | Most Valuable Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Theunissen Stadium • Mount Pleasant, Michigan | Eastern Michigan | — |
| 1982 | Franklin County Stadium • Columbus, Ohio | Eastern Michigan | — |
| 1983 | Hyames Field • Kalamazoo, Michigan | Miami | — |
| No tournament held, 1984–1991 | |||
| 1992 | Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio | Kent State | Dustin Hermanson (Kent State) |
| 1993 | Kent State | Ryan Beeney (Kent State) | |
| 1994 | Central Michigan | Tim Fails (Kent State) | |
| 1995 | Steller Field • Bowling Green, Ohio | Central Michigan | Pat Mahoney (Central Michigan) |
| 1996 | Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio | Akron | Dave Yoder (Akron) |
| 1997 | Trautwein Field • Athens, Ohio | Ohio | Bart Leahy (Ohio) |
| 1998 | Steller Field • Bowling Green, Ohio | Bowling Green | Bob Niemet (Bowling Green) |
| 1999 | Ball Baseball Field • Muncie, Indiana | Bowling Green | Sean Ryan (Bowling Green) |
| 2000 | Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio | Miami | John Lackaff (Miami) |
| 2001 | Ball Diamond • Muncie, Indiana | Kent State | John Van Benschoten (Kent State) |
| 2002 | Steller Field • Bowling Green, Ohio | Kent State | Brad Snyder (Ball State) |
| 2003 | Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio | Eastern Michigan | Brian Bixler (Eastern Michigan) |
| 2004 | Theunissen Stadium • Mt. Pleasant, Michigan | Kent State | Ryan Ford (Eastern Michigan)/Andy Sonnanstine (Kent State) |
| 2005 | Hayden Park • Oxford, Ohio | Miami | Paul Frietch (Miami) |
| 2006 | Schoonover Stadium • Kent, Ohio | Ball State | Kyle Dygert (Ball State) |
| 2007 | Oestrike Stadium • Ypsilanti, Michigan | Kent State | Jason Patton (Kent State) |
| 2008 | V.A. Memorial Stadium • Chillicothe, Ohio | Eastern Michigan | Jack Leonard (Eastern Michigan) |
| 2009 | Kent State | Chris Tremblay (Kent State) | |
| 2010 | Kent State | Justin Gill (Kent State) | |
| 2011 | Kent State | David Starn (Kent State) | |
| 2012 | All Pro Freight Stadium • Avon, Ohio | Kent State | David Starn (Kent State) |
| 2013 | Bowling Green | Nick Bruns (Bowling Green) | |
| 2014 | Kent State | Cody Koch (Kent State) | |
| 2015 | Ohio | Logan Cozart (Ohio) | |
| 2016 | Western Michigan | Keegan Akin (Western Michigan) | |
| 2017 | Sprenger Stadium • Avon, Ohio | Ohio | Spencer Ibarra (Ohio) |
| 2018 | Kent State | Eli Kraus (Kent State) | |
| 2019 | Central Michigan | Griffin Lockwood-Powell (Central Michigan)[8] | |
| 2020 | Crushers Stadium • Avon, Ohio | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | |
| No tournament held in 2021 | |||
| 2022 | Ball Diamond • Muncie, Indiana | Central Michigan | Garrett Navarra (Central Michigan) |
| 2023 | Schoonover Stadium • Kent, Ohio | Ball State | Adam Tellier (Ball State) |
| 2024 | Crushers Stadium • Avon, Ohio | Western Michigan | Dylan Nevar (Western Michigan) |
| 2025 | |||
| 2026 | |||
By school
editThe following is a list of tournament champions listed by school and the years each team was eligible to play in the tournament.
| Program | Tenure | Titles | Title years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent State | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
12 | 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 |
| Central Michigan | 1981–2020 1992–2020 2022–present |
4 | 1994, 1995, 2019, 2022 |
| Eastern Michigan | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
4 | 1981, 1982, 2003, 2008 |
| Bowling Green | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
3 | 1998, 1999, 2013 |
| Miami | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
3 | 1983, 2000, 2005 |
| Ohio | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
3 | 1997, 2015, 2017 |
| Ball State | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
2 | 2006, 2023 |
| Western Michigan | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
2 | 2016, 2024 |
| Akron | 1993–2015 2020 2022–present |
1 | 1996 |
| Northern Illinois | 1981–1982 1998–2020 2022–present |
0 | |
| Toledo | 1981–1983 1992–2020 2022–present |
0 | |
| Marshall | 1998–2005 | 0 | |
| Buffalo | 2001–2017 | 0 |
Former conference members shaded in ██ silver
References
edit- ^ Strack, Jordan (May 12, 2020). "Major changes coming to Mid-American Conference". WTOL. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Paul, Tony (May 7, 2021). "MAC's back! Conference restores eight championships cut amid pandemic". The Detroit News. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- ^ a b "MAC Announces Return of Baseball Championship to Avon's Mercy Health Stadium". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. August 16, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
- ^ "Ohio Bobcats 2012 Media Guide" (PDF). ohiobobcats.com. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
- ^ 2012 Miami RedHawks Baseball Media Guide (PDF). muredhawks.com. pp. 10–17. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ "Mid-American Conference Tournament History" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ^ "All-Tournament Teams & Tournament MVP's" (PDF). Mid-American Sports. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
- ^ "Chippewas Win First MAC Baseball Championship Since 1995". Mid-American Conference. May 25, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.