2011 Conference USA Baseball Tournament facts for kids
| Teams | 8 |
|---|---|
| Format | 2 division round robin and championship game |
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | Rice Owls (4th title) |
| Winning coach | Wayne Graham (4th title) |
| MVP | Tyler Duffey (Rice Owls) |
| 2011 Conference USA baseball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24 [[{{{school}}}|Rice]] †‡ | 16 | – | 8 | .667 | 42 | – | 21 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss † | 16 | – | 8 | .667 | 39 | – | 19 | .672 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|East Carolina]] | 14 | – | 10 | .583 | 41 | – | 21 | .661 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF | 12 | – | 12 | .500 | 39 | – | 23 | .629 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Memphis]] | 12 | – | 12 | .500 | 30 | – | 27 | .526 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Houston]] | 12 | – | 12 | .500 | 27 | – | 32 | .458 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Tulane]] | 10 | – | 14 | .417 | 31 | – | 26 | .544 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|UAB]] | 9 | – | 15 | .375 | 29 | – | 28 | .509 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[{{{school}}}|Marshall]] | 7 | – | 17 | .292 | 20 | – | 31 | .392 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament As of June 30, 2011 ; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
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The 2011 Conference USA Baseball Tournament was a big baseball event. It took place at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi. The games ran from May 25 to May 29, 2011. The team that won this tournament got a special prize. They earned an automatic spot in the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. This is a huge national college baseball competition.
Eight teams played in the tournament. They were divided into two groups, called "pods." Each pod had four teams. The teams in each pod played against each other. The team with the best record in each pod then moved on. These two top teams played in a single championship game.
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Teams and How They Qualified
Before the tournament, teams played regular season games. Their performance in these games decided if they could play. It also decided their "seed," or rank, for the tournament. The top eight teams from Conference USA got to play.
Here are the teams that made it to the tournament:
| Team | Wins | Losses | Win Pct | Games Back | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice | 16 | 8 | .667 | -- | 1 |
| Southern Miss | 16 | 8 | .667 | 0 | 2 |
| East Carolina | 14 | 10 | .583 | 2 | 3 |
| UCF | 12 | 12 | .500 | 4 | 4 |
| Memphis | 12 | 12 | .500 | 4 | 5 |
| Houston | 12 | 12 | .500 | 4 | 6 |
| Tulane | 10 | 14 | .417 | 6 | 7 |
| UAB | 9 | 15 | .375 | 7.5 | 8 |
| Marshall | 7 | 17 | .202 | 9 | -- |
Some schools like SMU, Tulsa, and UTEP do not have baseball teams. So, they did not compete. The Marshall team did not earn enough wins to make the tournament. If two teams had the same record, the team that won their games against each other got the higher seed.
Tournament Games and Results
The tournament used a special format. The eight teams were split into two pods. Each team played the other teams in their pod. This is called a "round robin." After these games, the team with the best record from Pod 1 played the best team from Pod 2. This final game decided the champion.
Here is how the games played out:
| Pod 1 | Rice | UCF | MEM | UAB | Overall | |
| 1 | Rice | W 4-2 | W 8-5 | L 8-9 | 2-1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | UCF | L 2-4 | W 16-9 | W 6-4 | 2-1 | |
| 5 | Memphis | L 5-8 | L 9-16 | W 5-4 | 1-2 | |
| 8 | UAB | W 9-8 | L 4-6 | L 4-5 | 1-2 |
| Pod 2 | USM | ECU | HOU | TUL | Overall | |
| 2 | Southern Miss | L 0-4 | L 6-714 | W 6-1 | 1-2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | East Carolina | W 4-0 | L 5-8 | W 4-211 | 2-1 | |
| 6 | Houston | W 7-614 | W 8-5 | L 1-7 | 2-1 | |
| 7 | Tulane | L 1-6 | L 2-411 | W 7-1 | 1-2 |
| Finals | ||||
| A | Rice | 410 | ||
| B | Houston | 3 | ||
# indicates the number of innings if not 9.
Final Standings
After all the games, the teams were ranked by how well they did. The Rice Owls won the championship game. They beat Houston in a close match. Rice earned the automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Here is the final order of how teams finished in the tournament:
| Finish | Team | Wins | Losses | Win Pct | Seed | Runs Scored | Runs Allowed | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | †Rice | 3 | 1 | 0.750 | 1 | 20 | 16 | 4 |
| 2 | Houston | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 6 | 16 | 18 | -2 |
| 3 | East Carolina | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 3 |
| 4 | UCF | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 4 | 24 | 17 | 7 |
| 5 | Southern Miss | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 6 | Memphis | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 5 | 19 | 28 | -9 |
| 7 | Tulane | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 7 | 10 | 11 | -1 |
| 8 | UAB | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 8 | 17 | 19 | -2 |
† - This team won the tournament and got a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
# - This team also got a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but not automatically.
All-Tournament Team and MVP
At the end of the tournament, a special "All-Tournament Team" was chosen. This team is made up of the best players from all the teams. These players showed outstanding skill and sportsmanship during the games.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) was also named. This player was the most important to their team's success.
Here are the players who made the All-Tournament Team:
| Position | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| C | Craig Manuel | Rice |
| INF | Joseph Frost | UAB |
| INF | Jonathan Griffin | UCF |
| INF | Ryan Still | Houston |
| INF | Corey Thompson | East Carolina |
| OF | Landon Appling | Houston |
| OF | Ryan Lewis | Rice |
| OF | Caleb Ramsey | Houston |
| DH | D.J. Hicks | UCF |
| P | Tyler Duffey | Rice |
| P | Seth Maness | East Carolina |
| P | Todd McInnis | Southern Miss |
| P | Jared Ray | Houston |
| MVP | Tyler Duffey | Rice |
(*) Denotes a player who was chosen by everyone on the selection committee.
