2002 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament

The 2002 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, SC from May 22 through May 25. Fourth seeded Georgia Southern won the tournament and earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. It was the Eagles third tournament win.

2002 Southern Conference
Baseball Tournament

Teams	8
Format	Double-elimination tournament
Finals site	Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park Charleston, South Carolina
Champions	Georgia Southern (3rd title)
Winning coach	Rodney Hennon (2nd title)
MVP	Brett Lewis, Georgia Southern
Attendance	22,696

2002 Southern Conference baseball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
The Citadel  ‍†‍‍	22	–	8		.733			31	–	26		.544
Western Carolina  ‍‍‍	20	–	10		.667			33	–	23		.589
College of Charleston  ‍‍‍	19	–	11		.633			36	–	22		.621
Georgia Southern  ‍‍‡‍^y	18	–	11		.621			39	–	25		.609
UNC Greensboro  ‍‍‍	17	–	11		.607			33	–	22		.600
Furman  ‍‍‍	14	–	16		.467			26	–	34		.433
Wofford  ‍‍‍	14	–	16		.467			26	–	31		.456
East Tennessee State  ‍‍‍	13	–	16		.448			23	–	36		.390
Davidson  ‍‍‍	13	–	16		.448			21	–	29		.420
Appalachian State  ‍‍‍	10	–	19		.345			16	–	34		.320
VMI  ‍‍‍	1	–	27		.036			10	–	41		.196
† – Conference champion ‡ – SoCon Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 2002[1]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The tournament used a double-elimination format. Only the top eight teams participate, so East Tennessee State, Appalachian State and VMI were not in the field.

Seeding

Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Seed
The Citadel	22	8	.733	–	1
Western Carolina	20	10	.667	2	2
College of Charleston	19	11	.633	3	3
Georgia Southern	18	11	.621	3.5	4
UNC Greensboro	17	11	.607	4	5
Wofford	14	16	.467	8	6
Furman	14	16	.467	8	7
Davidson	13	16	.448	8.5	8
East Tennessee State	13	16	.448	8.5
Appalachian State	10	19	.345	11.5
VMI	1	27	.036	20

[2][3]

Bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Semifinals					Finals
	Winner's Bracket
	6	Furman	6
	3	College of Charleston	7
						2	Western Carolina	0
						3	College of Charleston	3
	7	Wofford	2
	2	Western Carolina	9
											3	College of Charleston	9
											4	Georgia Southern	4
	5	UNC Greensboro	2
	4	Georgia Southern	4
						1	The Citadel	2
						4	Georgia Southern	4
	8	East Tennessee State	5
	1	The Citadel	7																		4	Georgia Southern	9	8
																					3	College of Charleston	6	0
	Loser's Bracket
	6	Furman	7
	7	Wofford	5			1	The Citadel	0
						6	Furman	6
											6	Furman	9
	5	UNC Greensboro	3								5	UNC Greensboro	7			4	Georgia Southern	10
	8	East Tennessee State	0			2	Western Carolina	4								6	Furman	4
						5	UNC Greensboro	6

[4]

All-Tournament Team

Position	Player	School
P	Brett Lewis	Georgia Southern
C	Matt Lauerdale	College of Charleston
1B	Carolos Love	Georgia Southern
2B	Jack Arroyo	College of Charleston
3B	Lee Curtis	College of Charleston
SS	Jemes Spearman	Georgia Southern
OF	Craig Caudill	Furman
OF	Kirk Strebin	UNC Greensboro
OF	Brett Anderson	College of Charleston
OF	Matt Herring	Georgia Southern
DH	Coogie Freedman	Furman

Walt Nadzak Award, Tournament Most Outstanding Player

Brett Lewis

Georgia Southern

[5]

References

1. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 2002". Boyd's World. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
2. 2011 Southern Conference Baseball Media Guide. SoConSports.com. p. 47. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
3. "SoCon Baseball Championship Seeds Set". SoConSports.com. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
4. 2011 Southern Conference Baseball Media Guide. SoConSports.com. p. 49. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
5. "Georgia Southern Wins 2002 Baseball Championship". SoConSports.com. Retrieved 2012-03-29.