Dates: Wednesday-Saturday, May 25-28

Teams (Records):  No. 1 Texas State (35-20, 23-7 SLC), No. 2 Stephen F. Austin (34-21, 20-13), No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (34-22, 19-14), No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana (35-20, 18-14), No. 5 Sam Houston State (34-22, 17-16), No. 6 UTSA (26-30, 16-17), No. 7 Lamar (29-25, 15-18), No. 8 Nicholls (26-27, 15-18)

Site: Bobcat Ballpark (San Marcos, Texas)

Live Video: www.southland.org

Live Stats: www.southland.org

Radio: 89.9 KTSW and www.TxStateBobcats.com/radio

In-Game Updates: Texas State Athletics Twitter Account - www.twitter.com/txstatebobcats

Texas State Athletics Facebook Account - www.facebook.com/txstatebobcats

Game Notes | Tournament Bracket
 

San Marcos, Texas – The No. 1 seed Texas State Bobcats will take on the No. 8 seed Nicholls Colonels on Wednesday night in the final game of day one of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament hosted by Texas State at Bobcat Ballpark. Game time for the first-round matchup is scheduled for approximately 7 p.m.

Texas State (35-20) enters the postseason with a Southland Conference-best 23-7 record during league play, while Nicholls (26-27) swept McNeese State last weekend to improve to 15-18 in the SLC and secure the final spot in the tournament field.

Texas State and Nicholls met just two weeks ago at Bobcat Ballpark when the Bobcats swept the Colonels in a three-game set, securing their third consecutive Southland Conference regular season championship in the process with a game two victory.

The Bobcats plan to start junior Mitchell Pitts (5-2, 3.74 ERA) in the opening game of the tournament, while Nicholls will counter with three-time SLC Pitcher of the Week and All-Southland Conference First Team selection, Seth Webster (6-3, 2.54 ERA).

Bobcat Ballpark is the Site

Texas State is serving as the host of the Southland Conference tournament in its Bobcat Ballpark. This marks the first time since the 2008 season that the tournament is being played on a Southland campus. The 2009 and 2010 tournaments were held at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. Texas State will also host next year's Southland tournament.

Ticket Information

Tickets for the event are available by calling either the Texas State athletics ticket office at 512-245-2272 or online at www.txstatebobcats.com/tickets. An all-tournament reserved pass is available for $50 for adults. Youth and general admission all-tournament passes are $45. Individual day tickets are available for $15 for adults and $12 for youth. Students at Southland institutions may get in free by showing a valid student ID card.

Championship Game on Southland TV
The championship game of the 2011 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament will be televised by the Southland Conference Television Network. Doug Anderson and LaDarrin McLane will have the call Saturday at 6 p.m. Check local listings or Southland.org for more information.

All 15 Games to be Streamed Live, Free on SLC NOW
The entire schedule of this year's tournament (up to 15 games) will be streamed live and for free on the SLC NOW, which is the streaming portal on Southland.org, the conference's official website.

Tournament Format

The Southland Conference tournament is set up in similar fashion to the NCAA College World Series in that there are two brackets with the winners meeting for the championship. Unlike in Omaha, the bracket winners of the Southland tournament meet in a single game to decide the championship. The winner of the Southland tournament is the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament, which begins with regional play, June 3-6.

Winner Advances to NCAA Tournament

The winner of the Southland Conference tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The field of 64 will be announced Monday, May 30 at 11:30 a.m., CDT, on ESPN. The tournament begins with regional play June 3-6 at campus sites. Super Regionals will be held June 10-13 and the College World Series will be June 18-29. This year marks the first year the CWS will be played at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., after moving from Rosenblatt Stadium.

Tournament History

This marks the 25th year of the Southland Conference baseball tournament. It began in 1964 though no tournament was played between 1969 and 1992. Since it resumed in 1993, Sam Houston State leads all conference teams with four tournament championships, including three of the last four. Texas State, which has three tournament championships to its credit, will be trying to match their rivals. The regular-season champion has won the tournament seven times though that has happened just twice since the tournament resumed in 1993. Lamar, which won last year's tournament championship as a No. 7 seed, is the last to have won both the regular-season and tournament championships in the same year, doing so in 2004. Texas State was a division winner in 1997 and emerged to win the tournament title.

Bobcats' Smith Repeats as League's Top Pitcher

Texas State right-hander Carson Smith was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season on Monday. The junior from Midland, Texas, finished the regular season with an 8-3 record and a conference-best 1.98 earned-run average to become the first Bobcat to earn pitcher of the year honors in consecutive seasons. He also led the league with 114 strikeouts and was second with a .217 opponent batting average and sixth with 95.1 innings pitched. His eight wins tied him for third among the conference leaders. The first-team all-conference pitcher limited league hitters to a .205 batting average and struck out 96 batters as his ERA dipped to 1.76 in conference play. Smith is the first player to be named the Southland's pitcher of the year in consecutive seasons since 1985-86 and is just the second pitcher to accomplish that feat since the award began in 1970.

Texas State's Harrington Earns Second Coach of the Year Award

Texas State coach Ty Harrington picked up his second coach of the year honor after guiding Texas State to a regular-season championship for the third consecutive season. Now in his 12th season at Texas State, Harrington earned his 400th career win earlier this season and has guided the Bobcats to a 410-294 overall record and three regular-season championships. This year's squad finished 24-9 in conference play and was 35-20 during the regular season. Harrington was previously the Southland's coach of the year in 2009 and is the first two-time coach of the year in school history.

Texas State Leads Way with Six All-League Picks

Texas State placed a league-best six student-athletes on the three all-conference teams, including four on the first team and two on the second team. Infielders Casey Kalenkosky, Tyler Sibley and Kyle Kubitza joined pitcher Carson Smith in receiving first-team honors. Catcher Andrew Stumph and outfielder Jeff McVaney earned second-team honors. Kalenkosky led the conference with 60 RBI and 18 home runs in the regular season. Sibley ranked fourth in runs scored (55) and eighth in batting average (.346), while Kubitza led the league in walks (47), tied for second in RBI (55) and triples (seven).

No. 1 Seed Texas State

The Bobcats recorded a 35-20 overall record and led the conference with a 24-9 mark in conference play. Tyler Sibley, Casey Kalenkosky, Kyle Kubitza and Jeff McVaney anchored a Texas State lineup that turned in a league-best 51 home runs, 337 RBI and 372 runs scored. Sibley led the team in hits (74) and ranked fourth in the conference in runs scored (55) and eighth in batting average (.346). Kalenkosky led the conference in home runs (18) and RBI (60) and ranked second in slugging percentage (.643) and total bases (133). Kubitza led the conference in free passes with 47 walks on the year, ranked second in RBI (55), triples (seven) and tied Sibley for eighth with a .443 on-base percentage. McVaney hit 10 home runs on the year, which ranked tied for fourth, giving the Bobcats the best long-ball duo in the conference with a collective 28 home runs between Kalenkosky and McVaney. On the mound, junior right-hander Carson Smith was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the league. Smith led the conference in ERA (1.98), strikeouts (114) and ranked second in opposing batting average (.217), tied for third in wins (eight) and ranked sixth in innings pitched (95.1).

Bobcats in the Tournament: