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Conference USA Baseball 2022: Mid-May Roundup

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There’s been a lot going on in Conference USA Baseball. Here’s the latest from the teams on the diamond this week.

Team Last Weekend Record Up Next
Southern Miss vs ODU (L, 1-2) 36-13 (18-6) vs UTSA
UTSA vs Marshall (W, 2-1) 32-16 (16-8) at USM
FAU at LA Tech (W, 2-1) 30-19 (15-9) vs Charlotte
LA Tech vs FAU (L, 1-2) 33-17 (15-9) vs WKU
MTSU at FIU (W, 2-1) 26-20 (14-10) at Rice
Charlotte vs Rice (W, 3-0) 31-17 (14-10) at FAU
ODU at USM (W, 2-1) 31-15 (13-11) vs Marshall
UAB at WKU (L, 1-2) 27-19 (11-13) vs FIU
Marshall at UTSA (L, 1-2) 20-27-1 (9-15) at ODU
WKU vs UAB (W, 2-1) 17-30 (7-17) at LA Tech
Rice at Charlotte (L, 3-0) 13-36 (6-18) vs MTSU
FIU vs MTSU (L, 1-2) 14-30 (6-18) at UAB
Standings as of 5/12/2022

Conference Tournament Positioning

How it works

The tournament will consist of the top eight teams in regular season play based on winning percentage. Entering the final weekend only three teams (Southern Miss, UTSA and Louisiana Tech) have officially clinched spots in the tournament. (Even if the Bulldogs dropped their remaining games, they’d hold the tiebreaker over Marshall). No team has been eliminated, although several are hanging on by a thread.

The West

Southern Miss, UTSA and Louisiana Tech have distanced themselves fairly comfortably from the rest of the division. Louisiana Tech holds a six-game advantage over the current first-team out, Marshall.

The East

The race in East is much tighter with the gap between Florida Atlantic and Old Dominion (currently seeded No. 3 and No. 7) sitting at only two games. The next two weekends could see a fair amount of movement on the seeding line.

Spot 8

As it stands currently, UAB is the last team in. They have a two-game cushion over Marshall and the tiebreaker, which means they’re realistically in if they can split their remaining games against FIU and UTSA.  Things would get interesting if the Blazers struggle, opening the door for the teams on the outside to make a move, although Western Kentucky, Rice and FIU need to win out to have a chance.

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Conference USA Baseball 2022: Midseason Roundup

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There’s been a lot going on in Conference USA Baseball. Here’s the latest from the teams on the diamond this week.

Team Weekend Result Record Next Weekend
Charlotte at ODU (L, 2-1) 16-7 (4-2) at UTSA
FAU vs UTSA (W, 2-1) 16-9 (3-3) at Rice
FIU at LA Tech (L, 3-0) 9-15 (2-4) vs ODU
LA Tech vs FIU (W, 3-0) 18-6 (5-1) at USM
Marshall vs Rice (L, 2-1) 12-11-1 (2-4) at UAB
MTSU at UAB (W, 2-1) 10-13 (3-3) vs WKU
Old Dominion vs Char (W, 2-1) 18-4 (3-3) at FIU
Rice at Marsh (W, 2-1) 8-17 (3-3) vs FAU
Southern Miss at WKU (W, 3-0) 17-7 (5-1) vs LA Tech
UAB vs MTSU (L, 2-1) 15-7 (3-3) vs Marsh
UTSA at FAU (L, 2-1) 13-10 (2-4) vs Char
WKU vs USM (L, 3-0) 9-14 (1-5) at MTSU
Standings as of 3/27/2022

League Roundup

Heavyweight matchup looms

Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech were projected to finish first and second place, respectively, in the Conference USA Baseball Preseason Poll. Roughly halfway through the season and a few weeks into conference play, little has been done to dispel that notion. Each program boats a sterling 5-1 record in league play heading into what could be a pivotal matchup this coming weekend in Hattiesburg.

Louisiana Tech has won nine of its last ten games, including a midweek 12-inning victory over No. 21 LSU. Southern Miss has won seven of its last eight with its most recent marquee win coming against Alabama on March 15.

Is Rice baseball legit?

Things got off on the wrong foot for Rice baseball and new head coach Jose Cruz Jr. After a 3-14 start which includes sweeps by No. 1 Texas and No. 15 Texas Tech, Rice has gone 5-4 in their last nine games including their first series win of the season last time out against Marshall.

Can Rice rebound? The prominent in-state juggernauts no longer remain on the schedule and the Owls have seemingly found their offense after struggling early. This upcoming home series against Florida Atlantic should provide some clues.

The opposite of hot

On the opposite end of things,  Western Kentucky and FIU have entered the make-or-break portion of their midseason schedules. Both programs have lost eight of their last 10 games and sit far under .500 (FIU is 9-15. WKU is 9-14).

If they’re going to have any shot of making the Conference USA Baseball Tournament at the end of the regular season they can’t afford to fall much further behind. Without winning a weekend series soon, even a late-season run will be too little, too late.

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Conference USA Baseball: Updated list of 2021 MLB Draft picks

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Conference USA Baseball had 14 players selected in the 2021 MLB Draft. Here’s the updated list of those drafted players.

The 2021 MLB Draft took place over three days, beginning Sunday, July 11 and wrapping up on Tuesday, July 13. The draft was held in Denver in featured 612 selections. It was expanded to 20 rounds this year after a limited 5-Round draft in 2020. Conference USA Baseball had 14 players selected from eight different programs, capping off a season that featured four teams selected for NCAA postseason play.

Southern Miss outfielder Reed Trimble was the highest selection, the first of three picks for the Golden Eagles, which tied Old Dominion for the most selections by any Conference USA baseball program this year. None of the 14 selected players were chosen by the same team, each will don a unique uniform to begin their professional career. The 18th round featured three C-USA selections, the most of any round.

Rice, Marshall, UTSA, UTEP and Western Kentucky did not have any players selected. The complete list of 2021 MLB Draft selections is featured below.

Conference USA Baseball 2021 MLB Draft selections

RD Pick Team Pos Player School
2 65 Orioles OF Reed Trimble Southern Mississippi
7 220 Padres LHP Ryan Och Southern Mississippi
8 242 Blue Jays RHP Hunter Gregory Old Dominion
9 268 Astros RHP Aaron Brown Middle Tennessee
9 259 Royals OF Parker Bates Louisiana Tech
11 336 Indians RHP Hunter Stanley Southern Mississippi
13 398 Athletics RHP Aaron Holiday Old Dominion
14 416 Giants RHP Tyler Myrick Florida International
15 454 Cubs 3B BJ Murray Florida Atlantic
16 481 Cardinals C Aaron McKeithan Charlotte
18 534 Mariners RHP Riley Davis UAB
18 537 Brewers RHP Ryne Moore Old Dominion
18 530 Rockies RHP Bryce McGowan Charlotte
20 600 Reds RHP Javi Rivera Florida Atlantic
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Conference USA Baseball: 2021 Regional Roundup

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Conference USA Baseball sent four teams to NCAA Regionals. Several made deep runs, but none were able to advance to the next round of postseason play.

Columbia Regional

Old Dominion hung in until the final out, literally. The Monarchs opened their postseason with wins over Jacksonville and South Carolina, earning themselves a spot in the winner’s bracket as the remaining teams fought for redemption. Virginia made it out of the fray and ambushed Old Dominion early in their first meeting, winning 8-3. That set up a winner-take-all contest which was delayed to Tuesday because of weather in the region.

The teams traded leads in the late innings in the finale. All six runs scored in regulation were scored from the sixth inning on. Try as they might, Old Dominion couldn’t push in the final run before the game was ended in the 10th with a walk off home run from the Hoos’ Devin Ortiz.

Ruston Regional

The only Conference USA school to host in its own ballpark, Louisiana Tech (1-2) did not get the result it wanted. The Bulldogs opened with an 18-2 rout against Rider, a game that they led 9-2 entering the eighth inning before doubling their run total that frame. NC State would get the best of them in the next game, though, silencing the Tech offense in an 8-3 win.

Forced to contend through the loser’s bracket, Louisiana Tech edged Alabama 10-8 but dropped a one-sided affair to NC State, this time falling 14-7.

Oxford Regional

Southern Miss (3-2) came extremely close to making it through the loser’s bracket in a loaded quarter in Oxford. The Golde Eagles were sent to the long road with an opening loss to Florida State and quickly rebounded with a 21-0 thrashing of Southeast Missouri State.

A Will McGillis home run lifted them past Florida State in a rematch, pitting them against regional host Ole Miss as the last two teams standing. Southern Miss won the first game 10-7 to force a winner-take-all finale. Ole Miss struck first in that one, taking a commanding 9-0 lead after two innings and holding on to eliminate Southern Miss.

Greenville Regional

Charlotte (1-2) got off to a hot start in their opening game against Maryland. After falling behind 1-0 in the second, the 49ers scored in each of the next six innings including a five-run fourth and a three-run sixth to outgun the Terps 13-10. A loss to eventual regional champion East Carolina in their second game sent them to the losers bracket, where they dropped a nail-biting 2-1 decision to Maryland and were eliminated.

Head coach Robert Woodward was somber, but thankful after the loss. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud to be affiliated with a baseball team than this one,” he said. “I’m so thankful for this group of players, coaching staff, support staff and administration for everything that everyone has put in to get us to this point. We certainly hate the outcome. Our players got our program to a place it hadn’t been in 10 years. Our guys absolutely laid it on the line from the first pitch against Morehead State to the last pitch here today against Maryland. I’m just so proud of these guys.”

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Conference USA Baseball sends four to 2021 NCAA Regionals

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The Road to Omaha begins now. Conference USA Baseball is sending four teams to NCAA Regionals where they’ll vie for a trip to the 2021 College World Series.

Conference USA Baseball had four ranked teams entering its conference tournament. After a thrilling week of postseason play in Ruston, Old Dominion punched its automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, but each of the other three teams earned an at-large bid as expected. The four bids are the most from Conference USA since 2016 and more than all but three conferences.

Here’s when are where C-USA teams will see action this week with all opening round games taking place on Friday, June 4:

Ruston Regional hosted by Louisiana Tech

  • No. 2 NC State (30-17) vs. No. 3 Alabama (31-24), 3 p.m., ESPN3
  • No. 1 Louisiana Tech (40-18) vs. No. 4 Rider (23-16), 7 p.m., ESPN3

One of the conference’s two No. 1 seeds, Louisiana Tech is the only C-USA program hosting in their own ballpark. NC State, the No. 2 seed in their regional, was one of the hotter teams in the country down the stretch. With Tech being the lowest-seeded host, that would have made NC State next in line in the pecking order. Alabama is right alongside NC State in RPI (No. 35 compared to NC State’s No. 33).

Columbia Regional hosted by South Carolina

  • No. 2 South Carolina (33-21) vs. No. 3 Virginia (29-23), 12 p.m., ESPN2
  • No. 1 Old Dominion (42-14) vs. No. 4 Jacksonville (16-32), 7 p.m., ESPN3

Although they’ll be the top seed in name, Old Dominion will visit South Carolina for the regional debut. The Gamecocks scuttled in the final weeks of the regular season whereas their first round opponent, Virginia, was white-hot down the stretch.

Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss

  • No. 2 Southern Miss (37-19) vs. No. 3 Florida State (30-22), 3 p.m., ESPNU
  • No. 1 Ole Miss (41-19) vs. No. 4 Southeast Missouri State (30-20), 8 p.m., ESPN3

This regional is going to be phenomenal. Southern Miss might have the most impactful pitching corps of these four teams, but they’ll be tested by two top-flight clubs in Ole Miss and South Carolina. For a team as talented as the Golden Eagles, the seeding committee did them no favors.

Greenville Regional hosted by East Carolina

  • No. 1 East Carolina (41-15) vs. No. 4 Norfolk State (25-26), 12 p.m., ESPN3
  • No. 2 Charlotte (39-19) vs. No. 3 Maryland (28-16), 6 p.m., ESPN3

Charlotte was bounced quickly from the conference tournament, but their body of work was enough to secure a No. 2 seed where they’ll be paired with East Carolina. The pirates were upset by UCF in their conference tournament, but both squads will be ready to bounce back with the stakes elevated even further.

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