May 17, 2008

Championship Bracket

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - After winning a program-record 19 games in Conference play, Xavier is the top seed for the 30th annual Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship to be held May 21-24 at Campbell's Field, home of the Atlantic League's Camden (N.J.) Riversharks.

The Musketeers (25-29/19-8) won their final five league contests en route to claiming a share of the A-10 regular season crown for the first time since capturing the 1997 West Division title. Xavier earned the top seed by virtue of taking two-of-three games in its series with co-champion Charlotte on Apr. 11-13. Seniors Mike Creevy and Michael Lucas lead XU with six victories apiece, while junior closer Jordan Conley boasts nine saves. The Musketeers enter the Championship in quest of their first-ever A-10 title.

Defending champion Charlotte (40-14/19-8) earned the No. 2 seed and an opening round bye. The 49ers are anchored by senior catcher Chris Taylor, who leads the A-10 in home runs (18) and RBI (66), and righthander Joe Yermal, whose eight wins are tops among A-10 freshmen. Charlotte seeks to become the first A-10 team to win consecutive Championships since Virginia Tech (1999-00). A different A-10 team has hoisted the trophy in each of the last eight seasons

Duquesne (24-27-1/16-10) is the third seed after earning its first Championship berth since 2005. Vying for their first-ever Atlantic 10 title, the Dukes, who were picked to finish twelfth by the coaches in the preseason, will take on sixth-seeded St. Bonaventure (29-22/15-12) in opening round action. Senior outfielder Randy Moley enters the Championship with a league-leading .417 batting average for the Bonnies, who seek their first A-10 crown since 2004.

Temple (26-27/16-11) is the tourney's fourth seed after winning a program-best 16 league contests. Freshman outfielder Byron McKoy has 16 stolen bases and boasts a team-best .357 batting average for the Owls, who earned their first berth in the Championship since 2002. TU will take on No. 5 Rhode Island (29-25-1/15-11-1), which will make its league-leading sixth-straight appearance in the Championship.

Play commences on Wednesday, May 21, with No. 4 Temple facing fifth-seeded Rhode Island at 12:00pm., while third-seeded Duquesne meets No. 6 St. Bonaventure at 3:30pm. The losers of games one and two will square off at 7:00pm in an elimination game for both teams. On Thursday, May 22, No. 1 Xavier takes on the TU-URI winner at 12:00pm, followed by second-seeded Charlotte versus the DUQ-SBU winner at 3:30pm.

Live audio and video streaming of the Championship will be available for $4.95 per day. Annual subscribers to All-Access for the six A-10 teams participating in the Championship and XXL annual subscribers will be able to view the action at no charge. For complete coverage of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.org