The Conference USA baseball tournament bracket is now set, but there is a lot more at stake for at least three teams, unlike past years.
Not only is a conference championship and at least one automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line, but for Charlotte, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss, there is a chance to host a regional.
That trio made the list as part of the 20 possible schools that can host a regional for this year due to COVID-19 protocols and likely means the tournament winner will earn the bid.
With that said, this year’s C-USA tournament sports one of the most competitive fields since 2016, which had the conference send four teams to the NCAA tournament. However, unlike 2016, four C-USA teams will enter ranked in the top-25 in various polls.
No. 4 Old Dominion vs. No. 5 Florida Atlantic
Old Dominion’s season has been equally as magical as Charlotte, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss’. The Monarchs’ season’s tone was set with an 8-5 win in 12 innings over top-10 ranked East Carolina back in February. Old Dominion (38-14) then went 4-4 against Charlotte in a battle for the C-USA East. However, a pair of losses to UTSA the next weekend killed their chance for a regular-season title. With that said, ODU is very much a contender to reach the C-USA title game as they have batted .306 this season and have put up a nation-leading 88 home runs this year. The Monarchs also have two solid starting pitchers with Hunter Gregory and Ryne Moore , who hold 3.10 and 3.31 ERAs, respectively.
Florida Atlantic (30-23) was easily one of the most talked-about teams at the start of the season as they opened the year 7-1 with a sweep over then No. 24 UCF and a midweek win over No. 6 Florida. However, the Owls then lost seven of their next nine games and then roughly two weeks later lost seven straight conference games after Charlotte swept the Owls and Old Dominion won three out of four. FAU’s numbers aren’t what C-USA is used to seeing from the Owls, given they have played for the C-USA championship in the last two previous tournaments, as the Owls are batting .275, but have hit 70 home runs, and hold a 5.06 ERA.
ODU outscored FAU 25-7 in the first three games of the series before the Owls salvaged the series with a 4-0 win on Sunday. FAU’s starting pitcher Javi Rivera, who holds a 4.99 ERA, had one of the best outings of his season as he went eight innings, struck out seven batters and allowed three hits.
No. 1 Charlotte vs. No. 8 Middle Tennessee
Charlotte (39-17) raised eyebrows after posting a 9-0 win over No. 4 Tennessee early in the season, but after being swept by No. 14 East Carolina that same weekend, many stayed skeptical. Charlotte, which was picked to finish in sixth in the C-USA East, won the division and owns the No. 1 seed of the tournament. The 49ers, who are now ranked No. 16 in the country, are hitting .299 with an offense led by Austin Knight, who is batting .355 with nine home runs. Charlotte holds a 5.21 ERA as a pitching staff and has racked up a conference-leading 522 strikeouts.
The 49ers haven’t played Middle Tennessee this year, but the Blue Raiders struggled to reach the tournament as they finished 23-27-1 and were just one win above Rice and UAB to reach the tournament. While Middle Tennessee hits just .238, the Blue Raiders’ pitching staff is very respectable as they hold a 3.88 ERA. The staff has four strong starters with Peyton Wigginton (2.97 ERA), Trent Seibert (3.41 ERA), Zach Keenan (3.84) and Aaron Brown, who has 107 strikeouts and a 4.12 ERA.
No. 2 LA Tech vs. No. 7 UTSA
LA Tech and UTSA both ended conference play against each other, which saw the Bulldogs winning the series 3-1. This is the third time since 2017 that the Roadrunners will have to play the team they ended conference play against to open the tournament. In both instances, the Roadrunners won the opening round each time in the tournament. In 2017, UTSA was swept by Southern Miss and won 9-2 but was eliminated by the Golden Eagles later on. Then in 2018, UTSA won its series against Charlotte and then won again in the opening round of the tournament, but the 49ers would eventually eliminate the Roadrunners. UTSA (22-24) has a team batting average of .301 and hold a team ERA of 6.04.
No. 14 Louisiana Tech, the winner of the C-USA West, holds a 36-16 record. The Bulldogs have built a strong resume with a win over No. 1 Arkansas and then a 13-1 win over then No. 4 Ole Miss. The Bulldogs have one of the more complete teams as they hold a .309 batting average led by Hunter Wells, who has batted .369 and hit nine home runs. As a pitching staff, the Bulldogs have posted a 4.75 ERA, which is led by starters Jonathan Fincher (2.77 ERA), Jarret Whorff (3.61 ERA) and Ryan Jennings (4.46 ERA). Louisiana Tech notably enters the tournament after dropping a two-games against Old Dominion to end the season.
No. 3 Southern Miss vs. No. 6 Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky (26-27) is probably the biggest wild card in the tournament as the Hilltoppers have seven one-run losses on the season. The Golden Eagles won its series against WKU 3-1 at the end of April but lost the Sunday game 9-4. WKU’s top hitters are Jackson Grey and Justin Carlin, who have batted .357 and .342, respectively. For the Hilltoppers’ pitching staff, WKU’s top starting arms are Devyn Terbrak (3.88 ERA), Sean Bergeron (4.24 ERA) and Jake Kates (4.96 ERA).
Out of the three teams trying to host a regional, Southern Miss has the most pressure on them with needing to win the tournament after failing to secure the C-USA West title. However, with Louisiana Tech on the Golden Eagles’ side of the bracket and with the possibility of playing high RPI ranked Charlotte or Old Dominion, the Golden Eagles’ hope of hosting is by no means gone.
Southern Miss’ pitching staff has enough depth suited for a tournament as it holds a 3.53 ERA, which is ranked No. 15 in the country. The question is if the 19th ranked Golden Eagles can put together consistent hitting. While the Golden Eagles’ lineup has hit .259 on the season, that number jumps to .298 in conference play, which is when Southern Miss began to find their groove at the plate. Despite the need for consistency, the Golden Eagles have put up 61 home runs, which is ranked No. 25 in the country.
The C-USA tournament will begin on May 26 with Southern Miss set to play WKU at 7:30 p.m. in Ruston, Louisiana.
