INDIANAPOLIS—The NCAA Division II Baseball Committee has selected the 48 teams that will participate in the 2008 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.  Stillman College received an automatic bid and will represent the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Stillman (26-24) won the Baseball championship at the SIAC Spring Sports Championships held in Tuscaloosa, AL leading to their automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.  Stillman is led by ace pitcher Chase Wilson and slugger Graham Wright.  Wilson leads the SIAC in Games Started, Batters Struck Out, Batters Struck Out Looking and Wins.  Wright, a power slugger, led the conference in home runs (10) and single handedly led Stillman to the SIAC Championship, hitting two home runs and throwing 5 2/3 innings as a relief pitcher in the championship game.

Stillman will face arch rival University of Tampa in the opening round on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 11:00 am.  Tampa eliminated Stillman last year in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championships.  Stillman and Tampa faced each other in February of this year with UT taking the both games 5-1 and 10-3 respectively.  Tickets will be available at the University of Tampa Baseball Field gate for $10 (adults) and $5 (students with ID and senior citizens). All games for the South Region will be played at The University of Tampa Baseball Field.

The regionals will be comprised six teams competing in double-elimination tournaments.  Eight regional competitions will be played May 15-18, at eight on-campus sites.  Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 24-31 at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois, which will be hosted by Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville and the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Nineteen conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2008 championship.  Each conference and its automatic qualifier are listed below:

California Collegiate – Sonoma State
Conference Carolinas – Mount Olive
CACC – Caldwell
East Coast – C.W. Post
Great Lakes Intercollegiate – Grand Valley State
Great Lakes Valley – TBD (Inclement weather)
Gulf South – Delta State
Lone Star – Texas A&M-Kingsville
Mid-America Intercol. – Central Missouri
North Central – Nebraska-Omaha
Northeast-10 – Franklin Pierce
Northern Sun Intercollegiate – Concordia-St. Paul
Peach Belt – North Georgia
PSAC - Kutztown
RMAC – Nebraska-Kearney
South Atlantic – Tusculum
SIAC – Stillman
Sunshine State - Tampa
West Virginia Intercollegiate – West Virginia State

In the 2007 championship, Tampa claimed its fourth championship title by defeating Columbus State, 7-2.

This year marks the 41st annual championship, and the 1st year that the finals have been held in Sauget, Illinois.

SITES/PAIRINGS:
*Denotes host institution

South Regional at Tampa, Florida

1.   *Tampa     (38-9-1)
2.   Tusculum  (40-13)
3.   Catawba   (40-16)
4.   Florida Tech  (35-18-1)
5.   Carson-Newman  (41-16)
6.   Stillman    (26-24)

The complete South Region schedule is as follows:
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Game 1 - #1 Tampa vs. #6 Stillman, 11:00 am
Game 2 - #2 Tusculum vs. #5 Carson-Newman, 3:00 pm
Game 3 - #3 Catawba vs. #4 Florida Tech, 7:00 pm

Friday, May 16, 2008
Game 4 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 11:00 am
Game 5 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3, 3:00 pm
Game 6 - Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 7:00 pm

If four teams remain after game 6, the schedule is as follows:
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Game 7 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 11:00 am
Game 8 - Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 6, 3:00 pm
Game 9 - Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7, 7:00 pm

Sunday, May 18, 2008
Game 10 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9, 1:00 pm
Game 11 - Same teams as first game (if necessary), 5:00 pm

If five teams remain after game 6, the schedule is as follows:
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Game 7 - Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:00 am
Game 8 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 3:00 pm
Game 9 - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 7:00 pm

If two teams remain after game 9, the schedule is as follows:
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Game 10 - Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 1:00 pm
Game 11 - If necessary, same teams as Game 10, 5:00 pm

If three teams remain after game 9, the schedule is as follows:
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Game 10 - Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, 1:00 pm
Game 11 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 5:00 pm

For more information regarding the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, log on to http://www.ncaa.com.

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