TIFTON, Ga. - Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is perhaps on the cusp of clinching its first ever Southern States Athletic Conference regular season title in any sport. Baseball can clinch the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament with a couple of wins over UT Southern Thursday and Friday at home.
The Stallions host UT Southern. Thursday is a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Friday is set for 1 p.m. This is the final week of the regular season for SSAC teams.
ABAC enters the series with a 17-7 record in the SSAC, a game ahead of Thomas University (16-8). Two wins are all the Stallions need for No. 1 as they won two out of three from the Night Hawks in their series earlier this year and have the tiebreaker. The Stallions are 33-14 overall and most recently ranked No. 22 in the NAIA national standings.
If they post fewer than two wins against UT Southern (13-11), the postseason picture gets a lot more dicey. Besides Thomas, Loyola (15-9) and William Carey (15-9) are still within striking distance. ABAC won two of three from the former, but not the latter. Five teams can still capture first place. Mobile, which won two games from the Stallions, is still hanging around at 14-10.
This week's series see Loyola at Faulkner (12-12); Mobile at Point (6-18); Thomas at Brewton-Parker (5-19); and Blue Mountain (7-17) at William Carey.
No SSAC teams have been eliminated from playoff contention, but only the top eight will make the postseason.
ABAC has clinched at least fifth place for the tournament, which begins April 29 at Rockabillys Stadium in Jackson, Tenn.
SSAC teams will play in two pools in a round-robin format with the pool survivors facing of May 2 for the championship. All games will be broadcast on Urban Edge Network.
The Stallions enter the final regular season series with the best ERA in the SSAC at 4.41. Despite having the most innings pitched, they have given up the fewest runs.
While having the best staff in the conference this season, ABAC's hitters have been the SSAC's best as well. They have more hits, home runs and RBI than any other team and their slugging percentage (.494) is 40 points higher than second-place Faulkner (.453).
ABAC's success carries over to the third phase of the game, fielding, as well. Their .972 fielding percentage is better than the rest of the Southern States Athletic Conference currently. The fielding percentage is tied for fifth overall in the NAIA, with the eighth most total chances in the league.
