Date Posted: 5/23/2006

The 2006 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship presented by Progress Energy will begin with Wednesday's morning match-up between No. 1 Jacksonville and No. 6 Campbell at Melching Field.

No. 1 Jacksonville Dolphins
Jacksonville clinched their first regular season championship outdistancing River City rival UNF by 3.0 games in the standings. The Dolphins are making their first championship appearance since winning the 2003 crown as the No. 6 seed. The top seed has not won the championship since UCF captured the 2002 crown. All-time, the No. 1 seed has won the postseason title seven times.

No. 2 Mercer Bears
Mercer dismissed early season predictions that had the Bears finishing as low as ninth in the league standings with impressive non-conference victories. Wins over Florida and Clemson, who were each ranked No. 1 nationally at the time, cemented Mercer’s rejuvenation on the diamond. The Bears would go on to earn their first postseason appearance since 1999 and their third place finish in the regular season standings was the team’s best showing since that season.

No. 3 Stetson Hatters
Stetson rallied from mid-season struggles to claim the No. 3 seed as the Hatters aim to become just the second team since 1997 to defend their tournament title. Stetson is 22-8 over their last 30 games including win streaks of eight games and seven games during that stretch. The host institution has won just five titles in the 27 years of A-Sun championship baseball. The Hatters have made seven straight tournament appearances, the second longest streak in the conference.

No. 4 Florida Atlantic Owls
The preseason favorite Florida Atlantic used a crucial three-game sweep of ETSU to cement their spot as the No. 4 seed. The Owls had not won three straight games since the end of March prior to the sweep. FAU is making their ninth consecutive A-Sun Championship appearance, the longest streak in the conference. Despite four championship game appearances, the Owls have only won one title, capturing the 2004 crown as the third seed.

No. 5 ETSU Buccaneers
ETSU dropped four of their last six games heading into the postseason to fall to the No. 5 seed. The Bucs are looking for their second straight 30-win season under head coach Tony Skole. Hitting has been ETSU’s calling card all season long as the Bucs led the league with 51 homers and ranked second with their .308 batting average. A team has won the championship in their first appearance six times in 27 seasons with Jacksonville’s 1999 title marking the last such victory.

No. 6 Campbell Fighting Camels
Campbell enters the championship as the No. 6 seed for the second time in the last five seasons. The Camels also carry the baggage of a five-game conference tournament losing streak dating back to their loss in the 2000 finals to Stetson. The sixth-seed has upset to the top seed twice in the last three years on the championship’s opening day. Campbell is the only team to win a conference series versus Jacksonville this season.

Related Links:
 • Full Match-Up Packet
 • A-Sun Championship