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2023 Southern Conference baseball season

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2023 Southern Conference baseball season
LeagueSouthern Conference
SportBaseball
Number of teams8
Regular Season
Season championsSamford
Season MVPRyan Galanie (Wofford)
Tournament
ChampionsSamford
  Runners-upWofford
Finals MVPHeath Clevenger (Samford)
Seasons
← 2022

The 2023 Southern Conference baseball season was the baseball season for the Southern Conference as part of the 2023 NCAA Division I baseball season. Wofford was predicted to win the conference in the preseason poll.[1] The conference tournament is scheduled for May 24–28 at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, South Carolina.[2]

Regular Season

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The Southern Conference began conference play on March 24. Each team was scheduled to play 21 conference games.[3]

Standings

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Pos Team Pld CW CL CPCT GB W L PCT Qualification
1 Samford (C, T) 54 15 6 .714 32 22 .593 Qualification for the third round & NCAA tournament
2 Mercer 55 13 8 .619 2 32 23 .582 Qualification for the third round
3 Wofford 54 12 9 .571 3 37 17 .685 Qualification for the second round
4 East Tennessee State 52 10 11 .476 5 25 27 .481
5 VMI 54 9 11 .450 5.5 26 28 .481 Qualification for the play-in round
6 UNC Greensboro 54 9 12 .429 6 22 32 .407
7 Western Carolina 53 8 12 .400 6.5 21 32 .396
8 The Citadel 51 7 14 .333 8 22 29 .431
Source: SoCon[4]
(C) Champion; (T) Tournament champion

Conference Game Results

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Home \ Away CIT ETSU MER SAM UNCG VMI WCU WOF
The Citadel 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–3
East Tennessee State 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–2
Mercer 3–0 0–3 2–1 1–2
Samford 3–0 2–1 2–1
UNC Greensboro 1–2 2–1 2–1
VMI 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1
Western Carolina 2–1 0–2[a] 1–2
Wofford 0–3 2–1 2–1
Updated to match(es) played on May 20, 2023. Source: SoCon[5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ The final game of the WCU-VMI series was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Tournament

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2023 Southern Conference
baseball tournament
Teams8
FormatSingle-elimination play-in, then six-team double-elimination tournament with championship game
Finals site
ChampionsSamford (4th title)
Winning coachTony David (1st title)
MVPHeath Clevenger (Samford)
TelevisionESPN+

The 2023 Southern Conference baseball tournament was held on May 24 through May 27 at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, South Carolina. The winner of the conference tournament received an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

All eight SoCon baseball teams participated in the tournament, with the bottom four seeds having played a single-elimination play-in round. The remaining teams then played a six-team double-elimination tournament, with the top two seeds receiving byes into the third round, and the third and fourth placed teams playing the play-in round winners in the second round.[6] The UNC Greensboro Spartans were the defending champions, but were eliminated by the Samford Bulldogs in the loser's bracket final. Wofford came out as the only team to not go through the loser's bracket, but lost two games to Samford, giving the Bulldogs their fourth SoCon baseball tournament title. Samford's Heath Clevenger was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.[7]

Bracket

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Play-in roundSecond roundThird roundSemifinalsFinal
Game 5
Game 31Samford2
Game 14East Tennessee State1274East Tennessee State1
Game 9
5VMI28The Citadel0
1Samford6
8The Citadel5
3Wofford7
Game 6
Game 42Mercer14
Game 23Wofford63Wofford16
6UNC Greensboro46UNC Greensboro1Games 12 and 13
7Western Carolina33Wofford22
1Samford75
Lower third roundLower semifinalLower final
Game 7
6UNC Greensboro4Game 11
4East Tennessee State2Game 101Samford9
6UNC Greensboro96UNC Greensboro5
Game 82Mercer5
8The Citadel1
2Mercer8

Schedule

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Game Time* Matchup# Score
Day 1 (Wednesday, May 24)[8]
1 3:00 p.m. #5 VMI vs. #8 The Citadel 2-5[9]
2 7:00 p.m. #6 UNC Greensboro vs. #7 Western Carolina 4-3[9]
Day 2 (Thursday, May 25)[8]
3 9:00 a.m. #8 The Citadel vs. #4 East Tennessee State 0-127[10]
4 12:30 p.m. #6 UNC Greensboro vs. #3 Wofford 1-6[10]
5 4:00 p.m. #4 East Tennessee State vs. #1 Samford 1-2[11]
6 7:30 p.m. #3 Wofford vs. #2 Mercer 16-14[11]
Day 3 (Friday, May 26)[8]
7 9:00 a.m. #6 UNC Greensboro vs. #4 East Tennessee State 4-2[12]
8 12:30 p.m. #8 The Citadel vs. #2 Mercer 1-8[12]
9 4:00 p.m. #1 Samford vs. #3 Wofford 6-7[13]
10 7:30 p.m. #6 UNC Greensboro vs. #2 Mercer 9-5[13]
Day 4 (Saturday, May 27)[14]
11 8:00 a.m. #1 Samford vs. #6 UNC Greensboro 9-5[15]
12 10:30 a.m. #3 Wofford vs. #1 Samford 2-7[15]
13 1:00 p.m. #3 Wofford vs. #1 Samford 2-5[7]
*Game times are in EDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed.

Conference leaders

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Conference leaders statistics include all regular season and SoCon tournament games.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Wofford predicted to win 2023 SoCon baseball title". soconsports.com. Spartanburg, South Carolina. February 9, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "2022-23 Championships schedule". soconsports.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Hooker, Daniel (December 16, 2023). "Alan Beck, Catamount Baseball Unveil 2023 Schedule". Western Carolina University. Cullowhee, North Carolina. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "The Automated ScoreBook - Standings & Leaders". southernconf_ftp.sidearmsports.com. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  5. ^ "Baseball - Composite Schedule". soconsports.com. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  6. ^ "2023 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Samford wins 2023 SoCon Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "SoCon Baseball Championship schedule altered". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "The Citadel, UNCG advance at SoCon Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "ETSU, Wofford win at SoCon Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Samford, Wofford advance at SoCon Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "UNCG, Mercer stay alive at SoCon Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Wofford tops Samford to reach SoCon title tilt". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  14. ^ "SoCon Baseball Championship schedule changes announced". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Samford forces winner-takes-all SoCon title game". Southern Conference. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "The Automated ScoreBook - Individual Statistics". southernconf_ftp.sidearmsports.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.