Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Baseball Championship Site, New Soccer Format Also Set at Spring Meetings
The Atlantic Sun Conference selected Allen Arena on the campus of Lipscomb University as the host site for the 2008 and 2009 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Basketball Championships at the recently completed A-Sun Spring Meetings in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Nashville institution will host both the men’s and women’s basketball championships on March 5-8 in 2008 and on March 4-7 in 2009. This will be Lipscomb University’s first opportunity to host the league’s premier championships.

“The Atlantic Sun Conference is thrilled to see the basketball championships return to Nashville,” stated first-year Commissioner Ted Gumbart. “The support for the conference in the city has been tremendous with two successful basketball programs competing for men’s and women’s championships. We are excited and know that our fans will enjoy a first-class event in one of our best facilities in a great destination city of the conference. Lipscomb will do a tremendous job in hosting the newly combined men’s and women’s basketball tournament.”

The new format will feature 16 teams playing 14 games over four days, culminating in Championship Saturday. The men’s basketball final will be featured on an ESPN property while the women’s champion will be crowned live on Comcast Sports Southeast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS).

Melching Field at Conrad Park and Stetson University will continue to serve as the home of the Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship for the next two seasons. The A-Sun Baseball Championship has enjoyed great growth and fan support over the previous six years that the championship landed in DeLand, Fla.

Additionally, the conference voted to change the format of its soccer championship, adding a day of rest and recovery to the schedule. Beginning in the fall of 2007, the soccer tournament will be contested on Wednesday and Thursday with the title game featured on Saturday.

“Stetson University helped make the baseball championship one of the top events on the conference calendar and the membership recognized that by extending their hosting duties for another two seasons,” said Gumbart. “Adding a day to our soccer championship will help raise the quality of both our title game and our representative’s effort in the NCAA Championship.”

The annual three-day meetings took place at The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach, Fla.