JONESBORO, Ark.
(5/20/12) — Seeded second in the eight-team field, the Arkansas State Red
Wolves will open play in the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament at
3:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 23, taking on the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee
State. The tournament runs May 23-27 at
Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Ky.
The Red
Wolves enter the tournament at 32-21 overall on the season, and at 19-9 in SBC
action, finished one-half game out of first place in the final regular-season
standings. Middle Tennessee will take
the field as the No. 7 seed after finishing the regular season at 14-16 in SBC
action and 29-27 overall. Arkansas State
won two out of three games against the Blue Raiders to win their SBC series
when the two teams met in Murfreesboro April 27-29. The Red Wolves defeated MTSU 8-5 in both the
Friday and Saturday games to clinch the series victory, but the Blue Raiders
used a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th in the
Sunday contest to avoid the sweep.
The
pool-play format will pit the Red Wolves against Troy (26-29, 14-16) in
Arkansas State's second game, which is scheduled for Friday, May 25 at 3:00
p.m. The Red Wolves won two of three
games against the Trojans March 30-April 1 in Troy, losing 7-6 in the series
opener before bouncing back to win 16-8 and 5-4 in the final two games to win
the series.
Arkansas
State will face Florida International at 3:00 p.m., Saturday, May 26 in the
final day of pool play. When the two
teams met May 11-13 in Jonesboro, ASU defeated the Panthers 7-4 in the Friday
contest, but FIU topped the Red Wolves 10-7 and 16-5 in the final two games to
take the series, one of only two series losses on the year for A-State.
Arkansas
State, MTSU, FIU and Troy are in Pool B, while Florida Atlantic, South Alabama,
Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky are in Pool A. The winners of each pool will meet Sunday,
May 27 at 1:00 p.m. in the championship game.
All games will be streamed live at SunBeltSports.org with the exception
of the championship game, which will be televised live by the Sun Belt Network. The championship game will be televised on
Suddenlink channel 119 in Jonesboro, other areas should check local listings
for availability.
Arkansas
State's 32 wins on the season are the most for any team in the field, are the
most for ASU since the 2005 season and are tied for the fourth-most in school
history. The Red Wolves' 19 conference victories are
the second-most in ASU history and their second-place finish in the SBC
standings is ASU's highest since the 1993 season, when Arkansas State finished
second in the Sun Belt East Division.
Under the
direction of Head Coach Tommy Raffo, Arkansas State finished
the regular season with a 9-2 weekend series record, including a perfect 4-0
weekend series record on the road. The
Red Wolves enter the tournament on a four-game win streak after sweeping
in-state rival UALR this weekend and posting a 10-5 victory over No. 22 Ole
Miss May 15.
2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Seeds (Season
Record)
1. Florida Atlantic (31-20, 19-8 SBC) - A
2. Arkansas State (32-12, 19-9 SBC) - B
3. FIU (31-23, 15-14 SBC) - B
4. South Alabama (21-33, 15-15 SBC) - A
5. Louisiana-Monroe (28-27, 15-15 SBC) - A
6. Troy (26-29, 14-16 SBC) - B
7. Middle Tennessee (29-27, 14-16 SBC) - B
8. Western Kentucky (24-31, 13-17) - A
2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 23
G1
(5) Louisiana-Monroe vs. (4) South
Alabama
11 a.m.
G2
(7) Middle Tennessee vs. (2) Arkansas
State
3 p.m.
G3
(8) Western Kentucky vs. (1) Florida
Atlantic
7 p.m.
(3 and 6 are off)
Thursday, May 24
G4
(6) Troy vs. (3)
FIU 11
a.m.
G5
(1) Florida Atlantic vs. (5)
Louisiana-Monroe
3 p.m.
G6
(4) South Alabama vs. (8) Western Kentucky
7 p.m.
(2 and 7 are off)
Friday, May 25
G7
(3) FIU vs. (7) Middle
Tennessee
11 a.m.
G8
(2) Arkansas State vs. (6)
Troy 3
p.m.
G9* (1)
Florida Atlantic vs. (4) South
Alabama 7 p.m.
(5 and 8 are off)
Saturday, May 26
G10* (6) Troy vs. (7)
Middle
Tennessee
11 a.m.
G11* (2) Arkansas State
vs. (3)
FIU
3 p.m.
G12* (5) Louisiana-Monroe
vs. (8) Western
Kentucky 7
p.m.
(1 and 4 are off)
Championship Sunday, May 27
G13
Pool A Champion vs. Pool B Champion
1 p.m.
NOTE: All Times Central and Subject
to Change
Each game of the championship, excluding the
championship on Sunday, will be streamed live on SunBeltSports.org. The
championship game on Sunday, May 27 will be televised live by the Sun Belt
Network, beginning at 1 p.m. CDT. The tournament champion will receive an
automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
* - Home team for games 9-12 will be determined
by a pre-tournament coin toss conducted by the head coaches.
