Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament

Last updated
Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament
Conference Baseball Championship
SportBaseball
Conference Mid-American Conference
Number of teams4
Format Double-elimination
Played1981–1983
1992–2019
2022–present
Last contest 2022
Current champion Central Michigan (4th)
Most championships Kent State (12)
Official website getsomemaction.com/tournaments/?id=164&path=baseball
Host stadiums
Campus sites (1981, 1983, 1992–2007, 2022–present)
Franklin County Stadium (1982)
V.A. Memorial Stadium (2008–2011)
Mercy Health Stadium (2012–2019)

The Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament is the conference baseball championship of the Mid-American Conference, Division I members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2022, the top four finishers participate in the double-elimination tournament, which is played at the home field of the top seed. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The tournament began in 1981, but was not held from 1984 through 1991. It returned in 1992 and was held annually through 2019. It was scheduled to be played in May 2020, but was cancelled in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. As part of several changes announced in May 2020 related to the pandemic, the tournament was eliminated along with the post-season tournaments of seven other sports, for at least four seasons. [1] The tournament, however, returned in May 2022 after the conference announced in May 2021 that the baseball tournament, along with all other conference tournaments that had been eliminated, would be restored for the 2021–22 athletic season. [2] Kent State has won the most tournament titles with 12, followed by Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan with four each.

Contents

Format and location

The MAC Baseball Tournament is held in mid to late May at the conclusion of the regular season. Beginning with the 2022 tournament, the format returned to its original setup with the top four teams from the regular season playing in a double-elimination bracket, hosted by the top seed. This format was also used from the tournament's inception 1981 through 1983 and again when it was revived in 1992 through 1997. The 1992 tournament was also when All-Tournament Team and Most Valuable Player were instituted. Beginning in 1998, the conference was divided into East and West divisions for the regular season and the tournament format was expanded to a six-team field in a double-elimination bracket, with the top three finishers from each division qualifying. In 2001, the format changed from the top three in each division to the top six overall. Beginning in 2008, the tournament was changed to an eight-team, double-elimination field and moved to a neutral site, first to V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio from 2008 through 2011, followed by All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, where it remained through 2019 and was scheduled to be held in 2020. The number of teams remained constant through the 2017 tournament, but was reduced back to six teams for the 2018 and 2019 tournaments following the loss of Akron in 2015 and Buffalo in 2017. The separate divisions were also eliminated after the 2017 season.

Champions

By year

The following is a list of tournament champions and sites listed by year. [3] [4] [5] [6]

YearSiteChampionMost Valuable Player
1981 Theunissen StadiumMount Pleasant, Michigan Eastern Michigan
1982 Franklin County StadiumColumbus, Ohio Eastern Michigan
1983 Hyames FieldKalamazoo, Michigan Miami
No tournament held, 1984–1991
1992 Gene Michael FieldKent, Ohio Kent State Dustin Hermanson (Kent State)
1993 Kent State Ryan Beeney (Kent State)
1994 Central Michigan Tim Fails (Kent State)
1995 Steller FieldBowling Green, Ohio Central Michigan Pat Mahoney (Central Michigan)
1996 Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio Akron Dave Yoder (Akron)
1997 Trautwein FieldAthens, Ohio Ohio Bart Leahy (Ohio)
1998 Steller Field • Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green Bob Niemet (Bowling Green)
1999 Ball Baseball Field • Muncie, Indiana Bowling Green Sean Ryan (Bowling Green)
2000 Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio Miami John Lackaff (Miami)
2001 Ball DiamondMuncie, Indiana Kent State John Van Benschoten (Kent State)
2002 Steller Field • Bowling Green, Ohio Kent State Brad Snyder (Ball State)
2003 Gene Michael Field • Kent, Ohio Eastern Michigan Brian Bixler (Eastern Michigan)
2004 Theunissen Stadium • Mt. Pleasant, Michigan Kent State Ryan Ford (Eastern Michigan)/Andy Sonnanstine (Kent State)
2005 Hayden ParkOxford, Ohio Miami Paul Frietch (Miami)
2006 Schoonover StadiumKent, Ohio Ball State Kyle Dygert (Ball State)
2007 Oestrike StadiumYpsilanti, Michigan Kent State Jason Patton (Kent State)
2008 V.A. Memorial StadiumChillicothe, Ohio Eastern Michigan Jack Leonard (Eastern Michigan)
2009 Kent State Chris Tremblay (Kent State)
2010 Kent State Justin Gill (Kent State)
2011 Kent State David Starn (Kent State)
2012 All Pro Freight StadiumAvon, Ohio Kent State David Starn (Kent State)
2013 Bowling Green Nick Bruns (Bowling Green)
2014 Kent State Cody Koch (Kent State)
2015 Ohio Logan Cozart (Ohio)
2016 Western Michigan Keegan Akin (Western Michigan)
2017 Sprenger Stadium • Avon, Ohio Ohio Spencer Ibarra (Ohio)
2018 Kent State Eli Kraus (Kent State)
2019 Central Michigan Griffin Lockwood-Powell (Central Michigan) [7]
2020 Crushers Stadium • Avon, OhioCancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
No tournament held in 2021
2022 Ball DiamondMuncie, Indiana Central Michigan Garrett Navarra (Central Michigan)

By school

The following is a list of tournament champions listed by school and the years each team was eligible to play in the tournament.

ProgramTenureTitlesTitle years
Kent State 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
12 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018
Central Michigan 1981–2020
1992–2020
2022–present
4 1994, 1995, 2019, 2022
Eastern Michigan 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
4 1981, 1982, 2003, 2008
Bowling Green 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
3 1998, 1999, 2013
Miami 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
3 1983, 2000, 2005
Ohio 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
3 1997, 2015, 2017
Akron 1993–2015
2020
2022–present
1 1996
Ball State 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
1 2006
Western Michigan 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
1 2016
Northern Illinois 1981–1982
1998–2020
2022–present
0
Toledo 1981–1983
1992–2020
2022–present
0
Marshall 1998–20050
Buffalo 2001–20170

Former conference members shaded in ██ silver

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References

  1. Strack, Jordan (May 12, 2020). "Major changes coming to Mid-American Conference". WTOL . Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. Paul, Tony (May 7, 2021). "MAC's back! Conference restores eight championships cut amid pandemic". The Detroit News. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  3. "Ohio Bobcats 2012 Media Guide" (PDF). ohiobobcats.com. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  4. 2012 Miami RedHawks Baseball Media Guide (PDF). muredhawks.com. pp. 10–17. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  5. "Mid-American Conference Tournament History" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  6. "All-Tournament Teams & Tournament MVP's" (PDF). Mid-American Sports. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  7. "Chippewas Win First MAC Baseball Championship Since 1995". Mid-American Conference. May 25, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.