Mercer to face VMI-The Citadel winner in conference tournament

Regular-season champion and defending tournament champion Mercer has claimed the top seed in the Southern Conference baseball tournament, which starts Wednesday at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.

All nine Southern Conference teams will participate in the tournament, with seeds 8 and 9 participating in a single-elimination game on Tuesday

The championship game will take place at 1 p.m. on May 29, with a second game, if necessary, to begin 60 minutes after the completion of the first game.

The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic bid to an NCAA Tournament.

The tournament begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday with eighth-seeded The Citadel (16-40, 6-18) taking on No. 9 seed VMI (21-34, 4-20) for the right to advance to face the No. 1-seeded Bears at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Mercer (35-21, 16-8) won its second straight regular-season title by taking two of three from UNCG. The teams entered the series tied for first, and then split a Thursday doubleheader to set up a winner-take-all contest Friday.

The Bears were in charge from the start en route to a 9-1 win to earn consecutive conference titles for the first time in program history. Mercer is trying for its second straight Southern Conference tournament title, as well.

Telegraph Staff

This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Mercer to face VMI-The Citadel winner in conference tournament."