SSAC Tournament Schedule
COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Belhaven baseball team will embark on the 2013 postseason beginning on Tuesday at the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament in Columbus, Ga. The Blazers, ranked 21st in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, finished the regular season in fourth place in the SSAC standings, one game behind William Carey who won two out of three games at Smith-Wills Stadium to close the year.

The SSAC is shifting to a pool play format this year and each team is guaranteed at least three games this week. The winner of each pool will advance to the championship game on Saturday.

Belhaven (36-19, 18-12 SSAC) will be in Pool A and open the postseason against fifth seed Southern Polytechnic States University on Tuesday at 11:00 CDT. The Blazers and Hornets did not play during the regular season. The other two teams in Pool A include eight seed Auburn-Montgomery and the top seed in this year's field, Faulkner University. The Eagles edged Lee University by a half game for the SSAC regular season championship.

Southern Poly (37-17, 17-13 SSAC) finished fifth in the SSAC, one game behind the Blazers. The Hornets are playing well heading into the tournament having won nine of their last 10 games, including two out of three against Brewton-Parker over the weekend.

Southern Poly is led at the plate by Tyler Roach who is batting .311 with 57 hits, 44 runs batted in, and a team high five home runs. Josue Quinones boasts a team high batting average of .361 with 20 RBI and 10 stolen bases. The Hornets are a solid team at the plate checking into the postseason with an overall batting average of .321.

Darin Wiltgen heads the starting pitching rotation for Southern Poly and is 6-5 on the season with a 2.72 ERA. He has 13 starts this year with one complete game and 76 innings pitched. Nick Blount anchors the back end of the bullpen with six saves and an ERA of 2.77. The Hornets team ERA stands at 3.79.

Senior Jason Hicks is having an outstanding season and leads the Blazers with a .358 average and 62 hits coming into the tournament. He also owns a team high 43 RBI and is second on the team in home runs with six. Senior Kyle Wheeler has provided solid offense and defense form the catcher position. Wheeler is hitting .324 with three home runs and 34 runs batted in.

Senior Bud Britt is Belhaven's leading power hitter with eight home runs coming into the SSAC tournament. Britt is batting .302 with 60 total hits and 38 runs batted in. The Blazers have two of the most prolific base stealers in the country with outfielder's Dominick Francia and Reagan Rutledge. Both players have 42 steals, setting new school records for most steals in a season. As a team, Belhaven leads the nation with 175 steals and the team has a batting average of .271.

Belhaven's pitching staff is anchored by left hander Chris Good who is 13-3 this season. Good leads the NAIA in wins and is one away from tying a school record of 14 which was set in 1991 by John Calhoun. Good has a 2.29 ERA in 17 appearances which include 15 starts. Good has logged 94.1 innings and is holding opponents to a .234 batting average. Belhaven's team ERA is and even 4.00 coming into the postseason.

Belhaven needs a strong showing this week to have a shot at getting into the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. The Blazers are on the bubble for an at large berth, but an automatic bid is also still up for grabs for the tournament champion.

Belhaven's quest for their second SSAC tournament title begins on Tuesday.