2022 SoCon Baseball Tournament

[FUBeAR]

Bottom-seeded (as they always should be) bellhops upset and eliminated the #5 seed ETSU in the opening game of the SoCon Tourney. (7th seeded VMI was also eliminated by 6th seeded WCU (go Purple). This was the bellhops 1st SoCon Baseball Tourney Win since 2016.

Then, the bellhops, facing the #4 seed Spartans of UNCG in Game #3, in the tops of the 8th & 9th innings, had come back from being down 3-0 & looked like they had it iced heading into the bottom of the 9th with a comfortable 6-3 lead…

Then…this happened…

and the bellhops are off to the losers bracket…ya hate to see it…

…not happen EVERY time to the bellhops!

[Affirm]

Apparently almost no spectators.

[FUBeAR]

Purple got pounded, dang it!

SoCon Tourney Play resumes…

Friday @ 9 AM - #1 seed Wofford will play #4 seed UNCG in Game #5
Friday @ 12:30 PM - #2 seed Mercer will play #3 seed Samford in Game #6

…then…

Friday @ 4 PM - #6 WCU will play the loser of Game #5 (Wofford or UNCG) in an elimination game
Friday @ 7:30 PM - #8 The Citadel (the only ‘non-chalk’ Team remaining) plays the loser of Game #6 (Mercer or Samford) in an elimination game.

…then…

…the 4 remaining Teams will crank it up again on Saturday at 12 noon, 3:30 PM, and 7 PM to get down to 2 Teams (with 0 or 1 Tourney loss)…

…who will then play 1 or 2 (if necessary) games on Sunday, beginning at 12 noon, to determine the SoCon Tourney Champion and which Team earns the SoCon’s AutoBid to the NCAA Tournament.

If Mercer or Wofford make it to the finals, but don’t win the Championship, either may have an opportunity for an At-Large NCAA Tourney bid. But we all know how At-Large bids go (in any sport) when the SoCon is involved…unfortunately.

[FUBeAR]

In Today’s Opener…

UNCG, looking for the upset, in a pitching duel/defensive battle (so far - odd for these Teams), plays small ball and goes up 1-0 on the top-seeded Wofford Tearyers in the top of the 5th.

UPDATE: Tearyers come back in bottom of 6th & 7th; now lead 5-1 in the top of the 8th.

UPDATE2: UNCG, down 6-1 in 9th gets a 2 run homer to close the gap to 6-3, but Spartans can’t get the needed big rally going and go down. They will now play WCU in an elimination game @ 4 PM. Wofford is now off until Noon tomorrow when they will meet the winner of the next game - Samford or Mercer.

[FUBeAR]

Exciting 2nd game of the day between Champs of recent years - Mercer & Samford - well underway.

Mercer’s 1st Basemen belts a 3 run dinger off his own face (just watch) to give the Bears a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 3rd.

[FUBeAR]

Exciting 2nd game of the day between Champs of recent years - Mercer & Samford - well underway.

Mercer’s 1st Basemen belts a 3 run dinger off his own face (just watch) to give the Bears a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 3rd.

Bulldogs ‘return serve’ with their own 2 run homer and retake the lead 6-5 in the top of the 5th.

Bulldogs also add 3 additional runs stringing together multiple 2 out singles and now lead 9-5 at ‘halftime.’

[FUBeAR]

Mercer 1st Baseman goes deep again for another 2 runs - not off his face this time - smoked it over the “420” sign.

Bears still trail 9-7 as we start the 6th.

[FUBeAR]

Baseballs continue flying through the skies in downtown Greenville’s West End as Sanford’s 2nd Baseman belts a 3 run homer.

Samford up 12-7 after 5 and 1/2 innings

[FUBeAR]

Samford goes to their bullpen in the 6th and the relief man strikes out 3 Bears…but also gives up a 3 run shot to Mercer’s CF’er, his 2nd big shot off the New York Life Building today.

Samford still up though, 12-10 in the top of the 7th…

General Manager of the Greenville Drive has some thoughts on this game…

[FUBeAR]

Samford’s 2nd baseman, who has already hit a 3 run homer, leaps & snatches 2 Mercer runs right out of the air with this WebGem snag’n’double.

So, heading to the 9th, instead of Samford up 13-12 (or tied…or trailing), the Bulldogs have a 3 run 13-10 cushion.

[FUBeAR]

Bears hold Samford scoreless in the top of the 9th, but can’t produce any magic in the bottom of the inning. Missed (or legally stolen) opportunity was in the 8th. Mercer loses to Samford 13-10, falls into the Loser’s Bracket, and will play The Citadel in the nightcap tonight.

Samford & Wofford sitting pretty

[cavedweller2]

Mercer 1st Baseman goes deep again for another 2 runs - not off his face this time - smoked it over the “420” sign.

Bears still trail 9-7 as we start the 6th.

He hit that ball a long way.

[FUBeAR]

Another exciting day of great SoCon Baseball ends…

Alas - there is no more Purple in the field. UNCG sent WCU back to Cullowhee with a 9-7 victory in the earlier afternoon/evening game. WCU was way down, fought valiantly to come back, but couldn’t quite get over the hump.

In the nightcap, Mercer squeaked out their 40th win of the season with a 2-1 win over the bellhops. Great pitching by CIT’s Starter kept the Bears off the scoreboard after they put up 2 runs (only 1 earned) in the bottom of the 1st. Mercer’s Coach made an interesting move early (2nd inning, I think) after the Bears starter walked the 7 & 8 bellhop hitter and then hit the 9th hole batter to bring in CIT’s only run. Coach Gibson went to his top-tier (nationally) closer, who pitched the rest of the way. That’s a lot of innings for a closer, but he got out of the initial bases loaded jam and kept the bellhops from crossing the plate the rest of the way - so seems to have been the correct call.

Wofford and Samford (both with 0 losses) will put the ball into play tomorrow at noon with the winner advancing to the Championship Game(s) on Sunday. In tomorrow’s nightcap, The Samford vs. Wofford loser will face the winner of the Mercer vs. UNCG elimination game, which is the afternoon game. No rest for the Spartans or Bears as they try to come out of the loser’s bracket with 2 wins on Saturday to gain a berth in the Championship Game(s) on Sunday.

Has been fun! Should be a lot more fun in the next couple of days!!!

[apaladin]

Not a lot of surprises as the top 4 teams are the 4 teams left.

[FUBeAR]

Not a lot of surprises as the top 4 teams are the 4 teams left.

True…

Since Samford is now 3-1 vs. Mercer this season and only UNCG being ‘also in’ the tie-breaker calculation enabled Mercer to get the #2 seed over #3 seeded Samford, you can’t really call Samford’s tight win over Mercer an upset.

#8 Citadel sending #5 ETSU home on the 1st day is the only real upset game so far.

Wouldn’t mind seeing Sammy upset Woffy in a few minutes…and then Mercer getting past UNCG (the Bears swept ‘em in G’Boro earlier this season) later this afternoon…and then sending the Tearyers whining their way back to SparkleCity late tonight.