INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – In the first set of Division II baseball regional rankings released by the NCAA on Wednesday, West Florida came in tied for fourth in the South Region. The Argonauts (31-13 overall, 26-13 in regional play) are tied with fellow Gulf South Conference (GSC) member North Alabama (34-12, 23-10). Delta State (30-11, 27-10) is the highest ranked GSC team at No. 2, trailing only Tampa (32-8, 20-7) from the Sunshine State Conference (SSC).
Eight teams from the South Region will earn a trip to the NCAA Division II South Regional, scheduled for May 17-21. Champions from each of the three conferences in the region, the GSC, SSC and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), will automatically qualify. The five remaining at-large bids are awarded to the next highest ranked teams in the region. The top-ranked team is eligible to host the tournament, providing it placed a bid to host and has adequate facilities and accommodations for teams and fans.
UWF hosted the NCAA South Regional for the first time in 2011, and the Argos won the tournament to advance to the NCAA Championships, another first for the program. The Division II national champion has come from teams currently in the South Region six times in the last eight years, including West Florida in 2011.
The Argos are coming off a 3-0 week, picking up wins over Spring Hill and West Georgia. One more week remains in the regular season, as the Argos travel east to face rival Valdosta State in a three-game series on April 28-29. VSU is in fourth place in the league standings (12-8), while West Florida is in sixth (10-9). The Argos will look to move up in the standings to earn a higher seed for the GSC Tournament on May 4-8 in Rome, Ga.
First pitch for the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Valdosta State is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.