Friday, July 01, 2011

MACON, Ga. – Resurgence best describes the 2011 Atlantic Sun Baseball season as three teams (Stetson, Jacksonville and Belmont) earned bids to the NCAA Tournament to give the A-Sun multiple teams in the tournament for the first time since 2007. From 1999-2007, the A-Sun earned multiple bids to the national tournament and had sent three teams on four occasions.

With a chance to make a statement to the nation, the three A-Sun teams didn’t spoil their opportunity as the trio totaled five NCAA wins – the most since 2002 – with each picking up a postseason victory. Stetson and Belmont both reached the Regional Championship as the Hatters defeated North Carolina State twice before falling to South Carolina – the back-to-back national champions – while the Bruins trumped Oklahoma State and Troy before Vanderbilt, a College World Series participant, knocked out BU in its first NCAA Baseball Tournament appearance.

In its seventh NCAA appearance with the conference, Jacksonville defeated Manhattan in the Gainesville Regional. By earning wins in this year’s NCAA tournament, the A-Sun extended its streak to 14 seasons with post-season victories, which dates back to 1998.

As a whole, the conference made great strides and finished the year ranked as the eighth-best league by WarrenNolan.com after finishing 16th last year. Eight teams completed their non-conference slate with a .500 or better record – up from five last season – while the A-Sun’s overall non-conference winning percentage jumped up 6.9 percent. Mercer led the pack of teams with 20-plus non-conference wins as the Bears posted 22 just ahead of Belmont (21), Stetson (20) and ETSU (20).

Six teams finished the 2011 season ranked inside the RPI Top-100, while only seven teams have finished the season ranked in the RPI Top-100 in the previous four seasons. Stetson (19th) topped the RPI charts for the conference after finishing the season 43-20 and earning the A-Sun Regular Season title, while ETSU (40th), Jacksonville (46th), Belmont (55th), Mercer (56th) and Kennesaw State (89th) also adorned the list.

A-Sun teams picked up several key victories throughout the regular season against top-level competition by earning 32 wins against NCAA Tournament Participants. With 12 victories, Stetson bested the conference in the category, while Jacksonville earned seven and Belmont claimed six.

The baseball student-athletes not only improved on the field, but also in the classroom as the amount that achieved at least a 3.0 GPA increased by 2.4 percent. Mercer led the way with 71.4 percent of the team earning Academic All-Conference honors, while Stetson and Lipscomb joined the Bears with 20 student-athletes achieving the academic honors.

From June 20-July 1, the A-Sun office will highlight each season of every conference sponsored sport:
June 20th: Women's Soccer
June 21st: Men's Soccer
June 22nd: Volleyball
June 23rd: Women's Basketball
June 24th: Men's Basketball
June 27th: Cross Country/Track & Field
June 28th: Golf
June 29th: Tennis
June 30th: Softball

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