Southland Conference announces bracket and schedule for 2023 Baseball Championship Tournament

FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference has released the bracket and schedule for the 2023 Southland Baseball Championship, which will be held on Tuesday-Saturday, May 23-27 at Joe Miller Ballpark in Lake Charles, La., on the campus of McNeese State University.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL — BRACKET — TICKETS

Nicholls is the top seed after winning its first-ever Jim Gilligan Trophy as regular season champion, claiming the title outright with a 15-9 conference record. The conference race was the closest in league history, with only three games separating first and seventh place.

UIW is the second seed, finishing one game behind the Colonels at 14-10 in league play. Lamar and New Orleans tied at 13-11 in the conference action, with the Cardinals taking the third seed thanks to a 2-1 series win over the Privateers.

Fifth place was a three-way tie between Northwestern State, McNeese, and A&M-Corpus Christi at 12-12 in conference play. Those teams combined for a 3-3 record against each other, and the Demons are the fifth seed with a 2-1 series win over Nicholls. McNeese claimed the sixth seed with a 2-1 series win over the Islanders.

McNeese and A&M-Corpus Christi will start the tournament at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a single elimination game. The winner of that game takes on Nicholls at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the double elimination bracket.

UIW and Northwestern State play at 11 a.m. Wednesday, followed by Lamar and New Orleans playing at 2:30 p.m. that day.

All games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, MAY 23
Game 1 – 6 p.m. – No. 7 A&M-Corpus Christi at No. 6 McNeese (single elimination)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24
Game 3 – 11 a.m. – No. 2 UIW vs. No. 5 Northwestern State
Game 4 – 2:30 p.m. – No. 3 Lamar vs. No. 4 New Orleans
Game 2 – 6 p.m. – No. 1 Nicholls vs. Game 1 Winner

THURSDAY, MAY 25
Game 5 – 11 a.m. – Game 2 Loser vs. Game 3 Loser
Game 6 – 2:30 p.m. – Game 2 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser
Game 7 – 6 p.m. – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

FRIDAY, MAY 26
Game 8 – 11 a.m. – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner
Game 9 – 2:30 p.m. – Game 7 Loser vs. Game 5 Winner
Game 10 – 6 p.m. – Game 8 Loser vs. Game 9 Winner

SATURDAY, MAY 27
Game 11 – 1 p.m. – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner
Game 12 – 30 minutes after – Rematch if necessary
Schedule will be modified if five teams remain after Game 7