Big weekend for Mercer, Georgia College baseball teams
Sunday was a good day for college baseball in Middle Georgia.
A really good day, in fact.
Mercer claimed its third straight Southern Conference-regular season title with a sweep of Wofford in Spartanburg, South Carolina. About an hour later, Georgia College was picked for the Southeast Regional for the NCAA Division II Tournament after winning the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Saturday.
“For us to win three consecutive SoCon regular-season titles is a testament to the great senior class we have in this program,” Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. “These guys have improved every year, and we’ve been played tough by every opponent this conference season.”
Mercer is the first Southern Conference team to win three straight regular-season titles since Western Carolina from 1986-89. It’s the first time Mercer has accomplished the feat.
Mercer (38-12 overall, 17-4 Southern Conference) has four remaining regular-season games: a non-conference game against Kennesaw State on Tuesday and a season-ending conference series against Western Carolina starting Thursday. All four games are at home.
The Southern Conference Tournament will be played May 23-28 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Georgia College (35-13) will take part in the Southeast Regional this week, making its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past five years. Georgia College is seeded sixth and will open regional play against USC Aiken (39-13) at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Mount Olive (47-8) is the No. 1 seed and gets a bye in the first round. Fourth-seeded Catawba (37-15) faces fifth-seeded UNC Pembroke (40-15), while second-seeded North Georgia (42-10) faces seventh-seeded Lincoln Memorial (33-17)
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament,” first-year Georgia College head coach Jason Eller said. “Georgia College has a rich history in its baseball program, and it’s a great honor to honor that history by continuing deeper into the postseason.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2017 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Big weekend for Mercer, Georgia College baseball teams."