FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Sun Conference Baseball Tournament presented by Homewood Suites Fort Myers at Belltower returns to City of Palms Park for the eighth consecutive year with the six-team, double-elimination event taking place May 6-9.
Play gets underway with three games Friday, followed by three Saturday, three Sunday and the championship game Monday. The tournament champion will claim an automatic berth in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, which will be played at nine sites from May 17-20.
The tournament takes on a new complexion without perennial power Embry-Riddle, which won the event five of the seven years since the tournament’s revival in 2009. St. Thomas (2012) and Southeastern (2014) are the only other teams to win the tournament during that span.
For the first time, the Sand Sharks of USCB will be the top seed in the tournament after finishing 41-10 overall and 20-4 in Sun Conference play to win the regular-season title by four games over St. Thomas and Webber International. USCB, which is ranked eighth in the most recent NAIA Coaches’ Poll, boasts the league’s top pitching staff with a 3.16 team ERA, and outfielders Thomas Estopare (.440 BA, 7 HR, 52 RBIs) and Matt Kianka (.411, 3 HR, 49 RBIs) lead a potent offense.
The Sand Sharks will open the tournament at 11 a.m. Friday with a rematch against No. 6 seed Warner (27-25, 12-12). USCB took two of three at Warner to wrap up the regular season last weekend. Broderick Rodocker (.414, 4 HR, 42 RBIs) and Randy Rodriguez (.366, 1 HR, 41 RBIs) lead the Royals’ offense.
St. Thomas (33-18, 16-8) is the No. 2 seed and looks to recapture the magic it found last May, when the Bobcats reached the championship game of the Avista-NAIA World Series before losing to host Lewis-Clark State College. Jose Gomez (.395, 3 HR, 35 RBIs), Oscar Rodriguez (.362, 1 HR, 29 RBIs) and Oscar Aguirre (.354, 8 HR, 56 RBIs) lead a stout Bobcats lineup.
The Bobcats will open against No. 5 Southeastern (34-19, 13-11) on Friday. The Fire reeled off 13 straight wins last month before dropping five of their last nine, but they bring one of the nation’s top offenses to Fort Myers. Sluggers Chris Mattison (.402, 13 HR, 52 RBIs) and Mike D’Acunti (.387, 11 HR, 58 RBIs) lead the power-packed lineup.
No. 3 seed Webber International (32-19, 16-8) and No. 4 seed Keiser (33-20, 14-10) will square off in the final game of the first round in another rematch of the final weekend of the regular season. The teams split a makeup doubleheader Saturday. The third-seeded Warriors boast a dangerous lineup that includes Daniel Timmons (.355, 25 RBIs), Sjaghbar Martis (.349, 2 HR, 38 RBIs) and two-way standout Taylor Layner (.354, 3 HR, 40 RBIs; 7-4, 3.33 ERA).
The Seahawks look for redemption after losing their first two games of the tournament as the No. 1 seed a year ago. All-America slugger Keivan Berges (.398, 18 HR, 69 RBIs) and Brad Myott (.337, 6 HR, 50 RBIs) lead the offense, while top starters Steven Bruce (7-0, 2.46 ERA) and Kyle Keatts (7-3, 3.30) had strong campaigns on the mound.
For complete coverage, including links to live stats and video, visit the Tournament Headquarters page.