HATTIESBURG, MS-- The ODU Baseball Monarchs are the seventh seed in the 2015
C-USA Baseball Championships which begin, May 20 at Pete Taylor Park at Southern Miss. The Monarchs will play the No. 2 seed FAU Owls at 5:00 (ET) Wednesday.
For the ninth time in their 10 years as a member of Conference USA, Rice has won at least a share of the league's regular season crown, taking its seventh outright title. The Owls will be the No.1 seed at the 2015 C-USA Championship presented by Petro Nissan at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., May 20-24. For Rice (35-18), it marks the 20th consecutive season that the Owls have won a conference regular season or tournament championship, dating back to 1995, the final year of the Southwest Conference.
The Championship will feature the top eight teams in regular-season league play. The format is two double-elimination brackets with four teams each, with the winners of each bracket meeting in a single-elimination championship game.
The tournament will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday when No. 5 seed UTSA (32-23) faces No. 4 seed Middle Tennessee (30-24). The Roadrunners won two-of-three from the Blue Raiders in San Antonio two weekends ago.
Top-seeded Rice will open up against No. 8 seed FIU (25-29) at 12:30 p.m. CT. The Owls just won two-of-three from the Panthers this past weekend in Houston. Rice owns a 27-7 all-time record in the C-USA Championship.
Florida Atlantic (38-15) is participating in its first C-USA Baseball Championship and will be the No. 2 seed, playing the 4 p.m. CT game against No. 7 seed Old Dominion (27-27). The Owls took two-of-three from the Monarchs in Boca Raton in late April.
Host Southern Miss (35-16-1) is the No. 3 seed and the Golden Eagles will carry a 13-game winning streak into its first round matchup with No. 6 seed UAB (30-24) in the 7:30 p.m. CT game. Southern Miss downed the Blazers in two of three matchups in Hattiesburg the first weekend of April. The Golden Eagles have participated in all 20 C-USA Championships, while UAB will make its 16th appearance.
Game Schedule
Wednesday, May 20
Game 1(5) UTSA vs. (4) Middle Tennessee 9:00a
Game 2(8) FIU vs. (1) Rice 12:30p
Game 3(7) Old Dominion vs. (2) Florida Atlantic 4:00p
Game 4(6) UAB vs. (3) Southern Miss 7:30p
Thursday, May 21
Game 5Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 9:00a
Game 6Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 12:30p
Game 7Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 4:00p
Game 8Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 7:30p
Friday, May 22
Game 9Winner Game 5 vs. Winner game 6 3:00p
Game 10Loser Game 7 vs. Loser game 8 6:30p
Saturday, May 23
Game 11Winner Game 7 vs. Winner game 9 9:00a
Game 12Winner Game 8 vs. Winner game 10 12:30p
Game 13Same teams as Game 11 4:00p (if necessary)
Game 14Same teams as Game 12 7:30p (if necessary)
Sunday, May 24 (televised by CBS Sports Network)
Championship Game 12:00p
All Times Central
Each game of the championship from Wednesday through Saturday will be streamed live on the C-USA Digital Network. The championship game of the tournament on Sunday, May 24 will be televised live by CBS Sports Network, beginning at 12 p.m. CDT. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Rice is the defending tournament champion.
The 2015 Conference USA Championship marks a return to Hattiesburg, Miss. for the fifth time in the league's history. Southern Miss also hosted the 2014, 2009, 2005 and 1996 C-USA Championships at Pete Taylor Park.
Tickets for the championship are available via SouthernMissTickets.com
Entire release: http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/051615aad.html