SAN MARCOS, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana, which finished second in the Southland Conference during the regular season, opens its fifth consecutive conference tournament appearance Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game against Central Arkansas.

UCA, the No. 7 seed, is participating in its first conference tournament after finishing the regular season with a 25-28 record (16-17 Southland). The Bears took two of three from Southeastern in Hammond, La., April 5-7.

SLU (36-19, 20-13 Southland) won the final two games of the regular season, defeating McNeese State, 12-2 and 9-5.

Southland player and hitter of the year Brock Hebert (.388), Jonathan Pace (.358) and Harry Slade (.306) lead the Lions in hitting. Pace and Cody Gougler are tied for the team lead with 41 RBIs while Gougler has hit a team-high three home runs. Hebert leads the team, and is fifth nationally, with 36 stolen bases. Southeastern is hitting .277 as a team.

Hebert and Pace were named to the All-Conference first team Monday while Gougler was named to the third team. Slade earned an honorable mention.

Southeastern will start right-hander Andro Cutura (6-1, 2.90), the Southland freshman of the year, against the Bears. UCA will counter with right-hander Caleb McClanahan (6-4, 4.37).

Jonathan Davis (.333), Forrestt Allday (.331) and Logan Moon (.319) lead the Bears in hitting.  Blake Roberts leads the team with seven home runs and Ethan Harris' team-leading 46 RBIs are the second-most in the conference. Blake Marchal leads the team with 19 stolen bases. UCA is hitting .289 as a team.

The Bears had several players named All-Southland, including first-team catcher Travis Snider. Allday, Davis and first baseman Bryan Willson (.317) were named to the second team.

UCA dropped a pair of games at home last weekend to Sam Houston State.

Southeastern will start junior left-hander Jordan Hymel (6-3, 2.81) Thursday against either No. 3 seed Texas State or No. 6 seed Stephen F. Austin.

Top-seeded Sam Houston State will open the tournament against No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which finished 23-31 overall and 13-19 in the Southland. The two will face off Wednesday at noon. The winner of that game will face off against the winner of the tournament's first game, which pits No. 4 seed UT Arlington vs. No. 5 seed McNeese State. The Mavericks finished in a third-place tie with Texas State, but lost the regular-season series against the Bobcats. UTA enters the tournament with a 32-23 overall record and was 19-14 in league play. The winners of the first two games advance to play Thursday at 4 p.m., while the losers will move into the losers' bracket and meet Thursday at 9 a.m.
The third game of the day is a rematch of last year's championship game. Tournament host Texas State will open its title defense Wednesday at 4 p.m. against No. 6 Stephen F. Austin. The No. 3 seeded Bobcats are 31-22 overall and were 19-14 in league action. The Lumberjacks were 24-28 overall and 17-16 in league play. Wednesday's final game is the Southeastern-UCA matchup. The winners of Wednesday's two late games advance to play Thursday at 7 p.m. while the losers play Thursday at noon.

Tournament Format
The tournament is set up in similar fashion to the NCAA College World Series in that there are two brackets with the winners meeting for the championship. Unlike in Omaha, the bracket winners of the Southland tournament meet in a single game to decide the championship. The winner of the Southland tournament is the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament, which begins with regional play, June 1-4.

Tournament History
This marks the 26th year of the Southland Conference baseball tournament. It began in 1964 though no tournament was played between 1969 and 1992. Since it resumed in 1993, Sam Houston State and Texas State lead all conference teams with four tournament championships. The Bearkats won their first tournament title in 1996 and won three in a row from 2007 through 2009. Texas State won its fourth tournament championship last year to go with titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000. The regular-season champion has won the tournament eight times though that has happened just three times since the tournament resumed in 1993, including last year by Texas State.

Ticket Information
Tickets for the event are available by calling either the Texas State athletics ticket office at 512-245-2272 or online at www.txstatebobcats.com/tickets. An all-tournament reserved pass is available for $50 for adults. Youth and general admission all-tournament passes are $45. Individual day tickets are available for $15 for adults and $12 for youth. Students at Southland institutions may get in free by showing a valid student ID card.

Tournament Coverage
The schedule of the double-elimination event has four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Two "if-necessary" games would be played Saturday before the championship game, which will be played at either 1 or 5 p.m. and be available exclusively on ESPN3. The championship broadcast will be called by Chris Mycoskie, the Southland's director of television and electronic media, and Greg Swindell, a 17-year MLB veteran. Every game of the tournament, which the exception of the title game, will be streamed live and for free on SLC NOW, which is available on the conference's website, Southland.org. Live stats will also be available at the same web address.

Winner Advances to NCAA Tournament
The winner of the Southland Conference tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The field of 64 will be announced Monday at 11 a.m., CDT, on ESPNU. The tournament begins with regional play June 1-4 at campus sites. Super Regionals will be held June 8-11 and the College World Series will be June 15-26.

Bracket Capsules
No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana
The Lions are 36-19 overall and were 20-13 in Southland contests ... Southeastern is making its fifth consecutive appearance and its seventh overall and is looking for its first trip to the championship game ... the Lions are 8-12 in the tournament ... Southeastern dominated the league awards this season with second baseman Brock Hebert taking home the player and hitter of the year awards, pitcher Stefan Lopez the relief pitcher of the year award and freshman Andro Cutura the freshman of the year award ... the Lions placed four players on the all-conference teams, including a league-high three first-team selections: Hebert, Lopez and first baseman Jonathan Pace ... outfielder Cody Gougler was a third-team pick ... Hebert led the team with a .388 batting average, 55 runs scored, 21 doubles and 36 stolen bases ... Lopez is tied for the national lead with 19 saves ... Dylan Hills paced the team with eight wins.

No. 3 Texas State
Defending tournament champion and tournament host Texas State is 31-22 overall and was 19-14 in league action ... the Bobcats are making their 17th all-time appearance in the tournament, which ties Northwestern State for the most in Southland history ... Texas State has qualified for the tournament every year since 1996, a 17-year stretch and won its fourth tournament title last year to go with titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000 ... Texas State became just the third team to win both the a regular-season and tournament title in the same year since 1993 ... pitcher Travis Ballew was named the conference's top pitcher and was one of two first-team all-conference selections alongside outfielder Jeff McVaney ... the Bobcats had five all-league picks with catcher Andrew Stumph and pitcher Colton Turner elected to the second team and first baseman Casey Kalenkosky to the third team.

No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
The Lumberjacks are back in the tournament for the fifth time overall and the fourth consecutive season after going 24-28 overall and 17-16 in league play, which tied them for sixth with Central Arkansas ... the Lumberjacks held the tie-breaker by virtue of its 2-1 series win ... SFA won its first tournament game last year before dropping the championship game to Texas State ... the Lumberjacks are 4-8 all-time in the tournament ... SFA placed four players on the all-conference teams ... shortstop Hunter Dozier earned first-team honors, while second baseman Freddy Villalobos, catcher Jarid Scarafiotti and pitcher Alex Moshier earned third-team recognition ... Dozier was second in the league in slugging (.569) and ranked sixth with a .349 batting average ... Moshier was 5-0 with eight saves and a 1.44 ERA in 23 relief appearances ... Cameron Gann lead SFA with six wins.

No. 7 Central Arkansas
Central Arkansas qualified for its first Southland Conference tournament after posting an overall record of 25-28 and 16-17 in league games ... the Bears are led at the plate by Jonathan Davis, who is batting .333 with 51 hits, including 11 doubles and two triples ... UCA ranks second in the Southland Conference with a team batting average of .289 ... it ranks third in team fielding (.969), but ranked 10th in team pitching with a 5.31 ERA ... Ethan Harris leads the team with 46 RBI, which ranks second in the league ... Blake Roberts paces the Bears with seven home runs ... Forrestt Allday has a .492 on-base percentage, which is the best in the Southland ... he ranks second in the league with 49 runs scored ... Allday has drawn 55 walks, which is tops in the Southland ... catcher Travis Snider earned first-team all-conference honors while three other Bears earned second-team honors.


DATES / POSSIBLE SOUTHEASTERN TIMES
Wednesday, May 23 – 7 p.m. CT
Thursday, May 24 – 12 p.m. or 7 p.m. CT
Friday, May 25 –  12 p.m. or 7 p.m. CT (TBD)
Saturday, May 26 – 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. CT (TBD)

STADIUM
Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas

RADIO
• KSLU, 90.9 FM
• Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to first pitch

INTERNET
www.LionSports.net – live audio; live stats and video courtesy www.Southland.org

TOURNAMENT RECORD
• 8-12 in six previous appearances
• 14-7 against participants in 2012
• In San Marcos, Southeastern is 0-2 in tournament play
• In the last appearance, Texas State won 5-2 (May 26, 2011)

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
MCN – Junior RHP Caleb McClanahan (6-4, 4.37) vs.
SLU – Freshman RHP Andro Cutura (6-1, 2.90)

Game 2
SFA – Freshman RHP Cameron Gann (6-3, 2.69) or
TXST – Junior LHP Colton Turner (5-2, 2.26) vs.
SLU – Junior LHP Jordan Hymel (6-3, 2.81)