2014 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament explained

Year:2014
Conference:Mountain West Conference
Teams:7
Format:Double-elimination
Ballpark:Earl E. Wilson Stadium
City:Paradise, Nevada
Titlecount:3rd
Coach:Tony Gwynn
Coachcount:2nd
Mvp:Brad Haynal
Mvpteam:San Diego State

The 2014 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament took place from May 21 through 25. All seven of the league's teams met in the double-elimination tournament held at University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Earl E. Wilson Stadium. This is San Jose State's first year in the league after joining from the Western Athletic Conference. San Diego State won the tournament, earning the Mountain West's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.[1]

Format and seeding

The conference's seven teams were seeded based on winning percentage during the round-robin regular season schedule. The bottom two seeds played a single-elimination game prior to the main six-team double-elimination bracket. The top two seeds received a bye to the second round, with the top seed playing the lowest seeded team that won its first round game, and the second seeded team playing the higher seeded first day winner. The losers of the first day's first-round games played an elimination game in the double-elimination format. The higher seeded loser of the second round games in the winner's bracket played an elimination game in the third round of the loser's bracket. The lower seeded loser of the second round games in the winner's bracket played an elimination game in the second round of the loser's bracket.

Team W L Pct. GB Seed
20 10
20 10
17 13
15 15
13 17
10 20
10 20

Bracket

All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[2]

NameSchoolClass
Brad HaynalSan Diego StateJunior
Trenton BrooksNevadaFreshman
Scott KaplanNevadaSenior
Greg AllenSan Diego StateJunior
Evan PotterSan Diego StateSenior
Brett SeeburgerSan Diego StateFreshman
Kyle GallegosSan Jose StateSenior
John RichyUNLVJunior
T.J. WhiteUNLVJunior
Steven PallaresSan Diego StateJunior
Brayden TorresUNLVSophomore

Most Valuable Player

San Diego State junior catcher Brad Haynal was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Haynal was the leading hitter in the tournament batting .636 (14 for 22) and was also the leader in runs scored with nine.

Championship Game

The tournament came down to a final game between San Diego State and UNLV with each team having already lost once. With the game tied at 3 in the top of the sixth inning, shortstop Evan Potter's sacrifice fly pushed across the go-ahead run giving the Aztecs a 4–3 lead which their bullpen held. T.J. Kendzora pitched 1 2/3 hitless and scoreless innings in relief to record the win. Aztecs' third baseman Ty France had three hits, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Michael Cederoth recorded his 20th save of the season which is both a Mountain West and a San Diego State school record.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2014 Mountain West Conference Baseball Conference Championship Central. themwc.com. January 17, 2014.
  2. Web site: Aztecs Win Back-to-Back MW Tournament Championships. Mountain West Conference. May 25, 2014. May 26, 2014.
  3. Web site: Boxscore: San Diego State at UNLV May 25, 2014. Mountain West Conference. May 25, 2014. May 26, 2014.