By Chad Beattie
The NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Selection Show revealed the field of 48 on Sunday evening and Lynn University has earned a No. 2 seed in the South Region. This is the highest seed for the Fighting Knights in program history. Three schools in total from the Sunshine State Conference were picked with Tampa garnering the top seed and hosting while Florida Southern earned a No. 4 seed.
The Blue & White went 34-13 overall this year, including winning a program-best 15 games in league play. Opening games begin on Thursday, May 15, with Lynn battling fifth-seeded and Gulf South Conference Tournament winner Alabama-Huntsville at 3 p.m. Tampa battles No. 6 Stillman and No. 3 Delta State takes on the Moccasins.
This marks the fourth NCAA tournament bid for Lynn. The Fighting Knights last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 where it went 1-2. The Fighting Knights fell to UAH in the opener before eliminating North Alabama in the second contest. Unfortunately, Nova Southeastern would eliminate Lynn in the third game.
The Blue & White went the distance in 2009 to win the program’s first NCAA national title. Entering as the fifth-seed, Lynn would go 8-0 in the postseason while defeating the top-three ranked teams in the nation. In 2006 the Fighting Knights would make their first NCAA postseason appearance, dropping its first game to Florida Gulf Coast and defeating Albany State for the first NCAA tournament victory in school history before being eliminated by Catawba.
SSC teams have collected a total of 16 NCAA Division II baseball titles, all of which have been won by Florida Southern, Lynn and Tampa. The conference also has a total of seven national runner-up finishes as well.