MILLINGTON- The Millsaps Majors and Bridgewater (VA) Eagles will square off in the opening round of the NCAA South Regional on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. central time at USA Stadium in Millington, TN.
Both teams come in as at-large, regular-season champions of their respective conferences. Bridgewater comes in at 33-11 and regular season champions of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). Millsaps at 34-11 were regular season and tournament champions of the new Southern Athletic Association (SAA) and received a "pool-B" at-large spot as a conference champion in a conference with no auto-bid.
The similarities do not end there. Both teams will feature conference players of the year. The Eagles have ODAC player of the year in junior Nick Fulk. Fulk led the Eagles with a .385 batting average and 20 stolen bases. The Majors counter with SAA player of the year in sophomore Keith Shumaker who also hit .385, driving in 51 runs and going 6-0 on the mound.
Players to watch on the Eagles include Jonathan Mason, he leads the Eagles with nine home runs and 47 runs driven in. Fellow senior Andrew Hacker comes into the regional hitting .373 on the year and promises to be a tough out as well.
The Majors will counter their own hard-hitting seniors. Wes Perkins led the nation with 79 base hits and 23 doubles and has driven in 56 runs this year. Stephen Gates hit .358 on the year and has scored 57 runs to date.
On the mound, look for the Eagles to start sophomore lefty Corey Armentrout, who leads the rotation with a 6-1 record, two saves and a 3.59 ERA. As a team, the Eagles have a .317 batting average and a 3.85 earned run average.
Look for the Majors to counter on the mound with senior righty Will Edwards. Edwards, a first-team All-SAA pitcher, went 7-2 on the year with a 3.04 earned run average and 80 strikeouts in 77 innings pitched. The Majors own a .340 team batting average and a 3.43 team earned run average.
Live stats and a live streaming video will be available for tonight's game and all the games in Millington. Links are available through the tournament site here.
