South Dakota State secured the top seed in the upcoming Summit League Baseball Championship for the second-straight season and third time overall.
The 2014 baseball tournament takes place from May 22-24, at Sioux Falls Stadium in Sioux Falls, S.D., and is hosted by South Dakota State University. This will be the second time Sioux Falls Stadium has hosted the league tournament (2011).
The top-seeded Jackrabbits finished with an 11-11 record league play and are looking for their second consecutive league tournament title. SDSU is making its fifth all-time tournament appearance with all five coming in the last six years.
Western Illinois, participating in its league-record 19th championship in school history, earned the No. 2 seed which is its highest since the 2007 season. The Fighting Leathernecks received the No. 2 seed based on winning the season-series vs. the Mastodons.
Fort Wayne, the No. 3 seed, makes the tournament for the first time in school history. No. 4 North Dakota State advanced to tournament for the fourth-straight season after being the No. 3 seed the previous three years.
No. 2 Western Illinois (19-30, 11-13 Summit) faces No. 3 Fort Wayne (19-34, 11-13 Summit) in game one Thursday, at 2 p.m. (CDT). Top-seeded South Dakota State (27-27, 11-11 Summit) meets No. 4 North Dakota State (22-24, 10-12 Summit) in Thursday’s second game at 7 p.m. (CDT).
The double elimination tournament continues with three games Friday, and the championship game(s) taking place Saturday. The winner claims The Summit League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
