Baseball

Mavericks take top seed in #SummitBSB Championship bracket, Tommies earn first regular season title

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 2024 Summit League Baseball Championship bracket was unveiled by League officials Saturday afternoon with Omaha earning the No. 1 seed for the second time in program history (2019).

St. Thomas won the program's first regular season title with a 7-5 win over Oral Roberts Saturday but is ineligible for the postseason event as the Tommies continue their transition to the Division I level.

The Tommies (22-24) finished off the regular season with a 16-10 record, holding off the Mavericks (18-30-1) to earn the university's first regular season title in any sport as a Summit League member.

Despite a 14-11 loss to South Dakota State in their finale, Omaha won the series with the Jackrabbits to place second with a 16-13-1 record and earn the top seed.

With all six League teams not able to complete the entire 30-game slate, the regular season champion was decided by the best winning percentage, which the Tommies owned at .615. The Mavericks finished with a .550 clip to edge the Bison for the highest seed and earn the right to host the 2025 Championship.

NDSU (19-28-1) dropped two straight to Northern Colorado, including an 18-12 setback Saturday, to fall to 14-12-1 and finish third with a .537 winning percentage. The Bison will be the No. 2 seed.

The four-team tournament will be played May 22-25 at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., as Oral Roberts will host the event for the 18th time. All games will be streamed live on the Summit League Network.

Joining the Mavericks and Bison in the field is tournament host and No. 3 seed Oral Roberts (24-30-1, 13-15-1) and the fourth-seeded Bears (14-36-1, 13-16-1).

Omaha's lone tournament title came in Tulsa in 2019. The Bison have two tournament titles to their credit, winning the 2014 and 2021 events, while ORU has won 21 titles. UNC is making its first postseason appearance since joining the League prior to the 2022 season.

Top-seeded Omaha will open the tournament against the Bears in Wednesday's first game at Noon CT. These two teams split their six regular season matchups with the home team each winning two of three at their respective parks.

The Golden Eagles, who are the two-time defending tournament champions, will play the Bison in the second game at 6 p.m. CT. NDSU won both regular season series with ORU, taking two of three each time the squads faced off.

The double-elimination tournament will see the losers from Wednesday's action play at Noon Thursday with the winner's set to play at 6 p.m. CT later that evening.

Friday's only scheduled game will take place at 4 p.m. CT and feature the winner from Thursday's first game vs. the loser of the second tilt. The winner of Friday's game advances to Saturday's title game against the only remaining unbeaten team in the field at 1 p.m. CT. The "If Necessary" game would take place 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
 
Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 22nd
G1: (1) Omaha vs. (4) Northern Colorado | 12 p.m. CT
G2: (2) North Dakota State vs. (3) Oral Roberts | 6 p.m. CT
 
Thursday, May 23rd
G3: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser | 12 p.m. CT
G4: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner | 6 p.m. CT
 
Friday, May 24th
G5: G3 Winner vs. G4 Loser | 4 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, May 25th
G6: G4 Winner vs. G5 Winner | 1 p.m. CT
G7: If Necessary | 4 p.m. CT

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