Conference USA Tournament pairings set

DALLAS, TX (WLBT) - Florida Atlantic won its second regular season Conference USA title in the past four years, making the Owls the No. 1 seed at The First 2019 C-USA Baseball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve, at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss., May 22-26. Florida Atlantic (37-18 overall) won eight of its 10 conference series’ and finished with a 22-8 record in league play.

The Championship will feature the top eight teams in regular season league play.

The format is two double-elimination brackets with four teams each, with the winners of each bracket meeting in a single-elimination championship game. Southern Miss is the defending champion. T

he tournament will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday when No. 6 seed Marshall (28-26) faces No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech (34-22). The Thundering Herd, which closed the regular season with four straight wins, will be looking to avenge a 2-1 series defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs in Ruston during Easter weekend.

The second game will feature No. 7 Rice (24-31) against No. 2 seed Southern Miss (38-18) at 12:30 p.m. CT. These are the last two teams to win the C-USA Championship title, with the Golden Eagles winning last season and Rice taking the crown in 2017. Rice won two-of-three games against Southern Miss when the teams met last weekend in Houston.

Top-seeded Florida Atlantic will look to become the 10th team in league history to win an outright regular season title and a postseason tournament crown in the same year.

The Owls will play the 4 p.m. CT game, matching up with No. 8 seed UTSA (26-28). These teams also met last weekend, with Florida Atlantic winning two of the three meetings in San Antonio.

Opening day action will conclude with No. 5 Old Dominion (35-19) taking on No. 4 WKU (25-27-1). These teams just played three high-scoring games in Bowling Green with the Monarchs rallying in the series finale to close the series with two wins, while the Hilltoppers grabbed the middle matchup on Friday night.

The 2019 C-USA Championship will be played a neutral site for the third straight year and the eighth time in the league’s history. Four year old MGM Park, located on the waterfront in Biloxi, Mississippi, will be the host venue of the league’s 24th championship. The Championship Game on Sunday, May 26 will be nationally-televised by CBS Sports Network, while all other games will be available on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN app.

Tickets are on sale now and available by calling the MGM Park box office (877-344-2174) or online at: https://overtimesportsbiloxi.com/product/2019-c-usa-tournament-pass/