May 21, 2006

2006 C-USA Championship Bracket (PDF)

After winning the regular season Conference USA championship in its first year in the league, top-ranked Rice will host the 2006 Conference USA Championship as the No. 1 seed, beginning Wednesday at Reckling Park in Houston. The Owls finished with a 22-2 record in C-USA play, the best winning percentage (.917) in league history. At 46-10 overall, Rice owns the best record in Division I baseball. The Owls have won 11 consecutive regular season conference championships, dating back to the final year of the Southwest Conference.

The Owls will face UAB (19-36) in the third game of the tournament on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. CDT. The Blazers (6-18 in C-USA) rallied back from an 8-0 deficit to post a 20-11 win over No.16 Tulane in Saturday's regular season finale. Rice is armed with one of the top pitching staffs in the country. Senior RHP Eddie Degerman is 10-1 with a 1.65 ERA and 127 strikeouts, while closer Cole St.Clair owns a 5-2 mark with nine saves and 88 K's over 59 innings. Outfielder Aaron Luna is one of the top freshmen in the country, batting .323 with 12 doubles, 13 homers and 45 RBI. Junior C Danny Sawyer is the team's top hitter, pacing the club in average (.311), doubles (16) and RBI (43), while Jim Crew (6-3, 3.53 ERA, 2 CG) leads the pitching staff. Rice swept the three-game series between the teams in Houston in April, winning the first two games by just one run.

The championship will get underway at 9:00 a.m. CDT on Wednesday when No. 6 seed East Carolina (32-24, 10-14) takes on No. 3 seed Tulane (39-17, 15-9), the defending co-champion. The Pirates are led by senior C Jake Smith (.351, 16 2B, 12 HR, 63 RBI) and senior 1B Adam Witter (.298, 14 HR, 42 RBI). The Green Wave had their 10-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, but enter the conference tournament having won 17 of its last 19, with one of the two losses coming at ECU. Redshirt freshmen OF Warren McFadden (.391, 21 2B) and Mark Hamilton (.332, 17 HR, 61 RBI) show the way offensively, while sophomore RHP Sean Morgan is 8-4 with a 3.32 ERA and 116 strikeouts as the top starter and junior closer Daniel Latham is the conference's all-time leader in saves (33).

First-year member Marshall (22-30, 6-18) earned the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 Houston (36-19, 18-6) at 12:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The Thundering Herd have several explosive batters in their lineup, including senior DH Brendan Murphy (.321, 19 2B, 15 HR, 70 RBI), senior 3B Adam Frederick (.340, 16 2B, 37 RBI) and senior C Rich Russell (.355, 6 HR, 34 RBI). The Cougars are ranked No. 11 in the country and are led by one of the top two-way performers in America. Junior RHP/DH Brad Lincoln is 11-1 with a 1.64 ERA and 151 strikeouts on the mound, while batting .288 with 11 homers and a team-high 50 RBI at the plate. Senior OF Matt Weston enjoyed an incredibly productive second half of the season and is batting .320 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI. UH swept a three-game series from Marshall to open conference play in late March.

Fifth-seeded Southern Miss (37-19, 13-11) will take on fourth-seeded Memphis (30-26, 13-11) in the 7:30 p.m. game on Wednesday. The Golden Eagles are eyeing a fourth consecutive NCAA appearance and enter the tournament as the league's top hitting team. Senior 3B Marc Maddox (.312, 18 HR, 67 RBI) leads the attack, with help from sophomore 2B Trey Sutton (.371, 12 2B), junior OF Toddric Johnson (.366, 10 HR, 47 RBI) and others. The Tigers are the most-improved team in Conference USA, more than doubling their win total from 2005. Junior 1B Adam Amar (.410) led C-USA in hitting in the regular season, adding 15 2B, 10 HR and 60 RBI), while sophomore CF K.K. Chalmers batted .318 with 10 and 37 stolen bases in 40 attempts and freshman DH Joey Lieberman smacked a team-best 13 home runs.

The championship game of the tournament on Sunday, May 28 will be televised by CSTV: College Sports Television and all games of the championship will be video streamed for free on ConferenceUSA.com. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.