COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and Benedict College, in association with the City of Columbia, will host the conference championships in baseball and softball this weekend.
The SIAC baseball championship will begin Thursday, April 23, with all games played at Capital City Stadium, located at 301 South Assembly Street. The top eight conference baseball teams will compete in a double-elimination tournament, with the championship game set for Sunday, April 26. The tournament winner receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II baseball championship.
Benedict College, the champions of the SIAC East Division, will take on Kentucky State University, the fourth seed from the West Division, at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The opening game at 9 a.m. will feature Claflin taking on Tuskegee. Stillman, the No. 1 seed from the West, takes on Paine at noon. Stillman has won four straight SIAC baseball championships and seven of the last eight years. The 3 p.m. game will feature Miles taking on Albany State.
Four baseball games will be played Friday with games at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday will have the same four-game schedule. Sunday's first game will be noon, with the championship game scheduled for 3 p.m. If the team coming out of the winner's bracket suffers its first loss in the 3 p.m. contest, an additional game will be played at noon on Monday to determine the championship.
The SIAC softball tournament will begin Thursday, April 23. Games will be played at Polo Road Park (730 Polo Road).
The top eight conference softball teams will compete in a double-elimination tournament, with the championship game set for Saturday, April 25. The tournament winner receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II softball championship.
There will be two games at noon on Thursday. On Field 1, Fort Valley State will take on Tuskegee, the tournament's defending champion. Field 2 will feature Kentucky State against Claflin.
Two more games will follow at 2 p.m. Stillman, the top seed from the West, will take on either Benedict or Clark Atlanta. Clark Atlanta was scheduled to play make-up games on Tuesday and depending on the outcome will determine which team advances to the tournament. The other 2 p.m. game will feature Albany State, the top seed from the East, taking on either Miles or Lane, who were playing a make-up series on Tuesday to determine the final spot on the West.
The tournaments are expected to draw more than 4,000 visitors to Columbia, including student-athletes, coaches, support staff, officials and spectators.
Admission to all events is free.
The SIAC membership is composed of 15 different institutions in six states (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee). The SIAC is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and participates at the Division II level.
