Braves baseball heads to NCAA regional
May 25—INDIANAPOLIS — A two-week hiatus from action was culminated with celebratory news on Sunday evening when the 27th-ranked UNC Pembroke baseball team earned one of three at-large berths into this weekend's NCAA Southeast Region in Tigerville, S.C. It is the third time in the last four full seasons that the Braves will compete in the NCAA postseason.
UNCP (29-13) will occupy the No. 5 seed in the six-team North Greenville-hosted tournament which begins Thursday and continues through Sunday. The Braves will battle second-seeded and 11th-ranked Mount Olive (35-10) in Thursday's opening round. Day-one action will also see top-seeded and 10th-ranked Catawba (32-9) locking horns with sixth-seeded Columbus State (29-14), while fourth-seeded and fourth-ranked North Greenville (33-11) will battle third-seeded Wingate (30-12).
It will be the fourth overall appearance in the NCAA postseason for the Braves, who made their NCAA Tournament debut in 2011 after grabbing the Peach Belt Conference Tournament crown. The Braves competed in the NCAA Southeast Regional to conclude both the 2017 and 2018 campaigns as well.
Thursday's 11 a.m. matchup will mark the 39th meeting all-time between the Braves and Mount Olive, the last two of which have come in NCAA postseason play. The Trojans lead the all-time series, 24-14, and posted a 4-3, 13-inning triumph over the Black & Gold in the last series matchup on May 19, 2017.
