What’s better than a weekend of postseason baseball? Two weekends of postseason baseball.

And as the South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship gets cracking later this week, there’s going to be a boatload of high-stakes matchups ahead of us.

• Subscribe to watch the SAC Baseball Championship
• GSC Baseball Championship Preview: Statesmen Roll Into Oxford
• 2025 LSC Baseball Tournament Preview: Seven Teams Eye Championship Glory

The league’s unique three-site format will see two games take place at the home of No. 1 Catawba and two more be played at No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne from Friday to Sunday in the opening rounds, with the two teams left standing after this weekend’s madness moving on to the championship series from May 9-10 at McCrary Park in Asheboro, North Carolina, where the SAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament will be up for grabs.

Eight teams are left playing in the SAC, and only one will stand tall as the SAC Championship winner after the dust settles. But between the multiple D-II College World Series contenders and other programs with points to prove in the field, no one wants to leave the rest of their postseason fates up to chance.

Here’s a look ahead at the SAC Baseball Championship, with previews of all eight teams beginning their postseason journeys this weekend:

NOTE: All game times are listed in Eastern Time. 

No. 1 Catawba Baseball

Record: 37-12 overall (25-5 SAC)

First game: vs. No. 8 Newberry, 2 p.m. Friday 

The lowdown: Catawba might be even better than the 2024 team that finished the year in the D-II College World Series as a national semifinalist, which is saying something. Winning the SAC regular-season title for the 16th time in program history, the Catawba Indians capped off conference play in style by winning their last six league games, including a top-20 showdown with a 9-7 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday afternoon in a potential SAC Championship final preview. 

Second in the SAC in both team batting average (.312) and ERA (4.40), Catawba had a three-game midseason slide, but has otherwise avoided back-to-back losses throughout the entirety of the 2025 season — a distinction that should come in handy as win-or-go-home games now come into play.

Impact player: Hayden Simmerson, RHP

The nation’s best closer, last season’s SAC Freshman of the Year, is often called upon to keep the Catawba Indians’ lead safe, and he gets the job done over and over with devastating efficiency. Across 23 appearances and 49 innings pitched this season, Simmerson has picked up a national-best 14 saves as of this writing with 59 strikeouts along the way — giving him a devastating 10.84 K/9 rate — while giving up just a single home run, and his prior experience earlier in his college career as a starter allows him to thrive in long stints if needed from the bullpen. 

He allowed just one hit across four innings in a clutch relief appearance to nab the save against UVA Wise on March 15, for instance, and allowed no hits in a three-inning stretch (while striking out five) in another masterful save against Limestone on February 22.

No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball

Record: 40-10 (23-7)

First game: vs. No. 7 UVA Wise, 7 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Though the Bears don’t have a SAC regular-season championship to show for it, 40 regular-season wins is 40 regular-season wins and is a distinction only three other D-II teams have as of this writing. And if you’re a pitching staff due to face Lenoir-Rhyne’s stacked lineup this postseason, good luck. 

The nation’s top home-run hitting team with 106 long balls to date, the Bears have scored over 500 runs, and have the most in the SAC by nearly 150, while batting an almost beyond-belief .357 across the board and slashing .454/.645. But while Lenoir-Rhyne’s monster bats deservedly get the headlines, its pitching staff is sneaky-good, too, holding a 4.78 ERA with 444 strikeouts going into the SAC Championship.

Impact player: Mackenzie Wainwright, OF

Maybe the most obvious impact player pick of the preview (which is no small feat on a Bears team that has three different players batting over .400), Wainwright was a high-profile transfer in the offseason from fellow D-II program Salem, where he batted .449 as a freshman and once had 10 RBIs in a single game. In short, there’s been no sophomore slump at his new place. Wainwright won two parts of the SAC batting triple crown, winning the batting average title by slashing .449/.525/.913 and smashing a league-high 21 homers, being denied the RBI title by teammate Sal Carricato. 

Still, Wainwright will be happy to settle with a SAC-second-best 66 RBIs, and with dangerous speed on top of it all (23 stolen bases, fourth in the conference), arguably no hitter in D-II is more complete at the plate. 

No. 3 Carson-Newman Baseball

Record: 35-15 (21-9)

First game: vs. No. 6 Wingate, 3 p.m. (at Lenoir-Rhyne)

The lowdown: The most victories in a single season since 2008? Check. The best pitching staff in the SAC with a league-low 4.02 team ERA? Check. A SAC Championship title and a guaranteed return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years? To be determined. 

Though the Eagles made the unranked top 10 of the NCAA’s final Southeast Regional shortlist of teams in the running to earn an at-large bid, nothing is for certain until the committee unveils the final bracket, meaning that it’s on the Eagles to make a conference tournament run away from home after missing out on co-hosting rights. With a couple of strong wins over the next few days, however, C-N might just pull it off and get back to the Regional round in what’s been a long time coming.

Impact player: Kolton Casson, RHP

Among starting pitchers in the conference, no arm had a lower ERA (2.22) or more wins (12) in the regular season across the SAC than Casson, a testament to the freshman’s sheer talent as he’s immediately become one of the league’s top aces. 

Nearly half of Casson’s 13 starts ended in complete games (six), as in 81 innings pitched, he fanned 83 batters and only walked 16 to have a WHIP under 1.00 (.98), being skilled in getting outs and going deep into games with strong stuff that rarely faded. Just ask Lenoir-Rhyne, which despite having one of D-II’s strongest offenses struck out 12 times and only got two earned runs off of Casson in his seven innings of work against the Bears on April 12.

No. 4 Limestone Baseball

Record: 25-24 (17-13)

First game: vs. No. 5 Coker, 6 p.m. Friday (at Catawba)

The lowdown: You’d be hard-pressed to find a team that wants a SAC Championship title more than the Saints do right now. Not only is it Limestone’s first conference tournament trip in over a decade, but it’s been a chaotic month at the school, which announced Tuesday night that it will close at the end of the academic semester due to significant financial difficulties. But its baseball team will keep playing until it’s knocked out of the postseason as they try to instill some cheer in a college community that’s hurting. 

Limestone won four straight SAC games to close out the regular season to secure a top-four seed (including a season-ending sweep over UVA Wise) and won its regular-season series with Coker, setting the Saints up with some much-needed confidence in light of the off-the-diamond headaches going on at the school.

Impact player: Kemper Nix, LHP

Four SAC players alone hit more home runs than the Saints did in the regular season (15), so in their final trip to the postseason in school history, they’ll especially rely on their steady hand in the circle in Nix. Originally a South Carolina commit out of junior college, Nix opted to go the D-II route instead to strut his stuff in the SAC instead of the SEC, and he shows up in the big games. 

For example, while it resulted in a losing effort against nonconference foe North Greenville (one of D-II baseball’s blue-bloods) in an outing on April 12, he went six innings while allowing just four hits and no earned runs while striking out 10 against one of the national-title frontrunners. He’s struck out at least five batters in each of his last six starts, in fact, and Limestone will need him to produce again with emotions running high.

No. 5 Coker Baseball

Record: 29-20 (17-13)

First game: vs. No. 4 Limestone, 6 p.m. Friday (at Catawba)

The lowdown: A midseason 10-game winning streak set the stage for a good campaign for the Cobras, who also became one of the few teams in the SAC to beat both Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne in the process. Strong pitching acted as Coker’s foundation and should give it a strong base for postseason play; the Cobras twirled the SAC’s third-best team ERA at 4.57 to avoid getting into holes in SAC play more often than not, being helped by blazing speed on the basepaths (137 stolen bases, most in the SAC), too. With Coker having battled against 

Limestone in its regular-season series in three games that were decided by a combined five runs, the No. 4-5 matchup has the opportunity to be the first round’s most entertaining matchup of the opening day of tournament play Friday.

Impact player: Britton Adams, RHP

Sometimes, all you need to work out the kinks before you get to shine, which is exactly what happened to Adams as he’s having a career year out of nowhere during his senior campaign with the Cobras. Never having a season with a lower than a 6.75 ERA before this spring, Adams had the worst year of his career in 2024, only appearing six times and finishing with a 12.46 ERA that made him difficult to trust on the mound. 

He’s switched exclusively to the bullpen for this year, meanwhile, and no pitcher in the SAC has been more trustworthy since. In 21 appearances and 51⅓ innings pitched, Adams has been phenomenal and the holder of the conference’s best ERA by far at 1.40, picking up a 6-1 record in the process as he stops offenses dead in their tracks. A total of 35 of his 44 strikeouts on the year came in conference play, too, so Adams saw tough tests on a nightly basis this year and passed them with flying colors.

No. 6 Wingate Baseball

Record: 25-24 (15-15)

First game: vs. No. 3 Carson-Newman, 3 p.m. Friday (at Lenoir-Rhyne)

The lowdown: It’s a rare down year from the Bulldogs, who are just four seasons removed from a national championship and three from a 48-win campaign. But coach Jeff Gregory, who’s seen a thing or two across a wildly successful 15 seasons at his alma mater, can never have his program counted out in postseason play. 

Five wins from their final six SAC games have put the Bulldogs away from the top two in the tournament bracket, though having just one hitter swinging above .300 will hurt them if games turn into shootouts. But when Wingate does get on base (like through a walk, in which the Bulldogs rank second in the SAC in drawing them), watch out, because three different players have at least 15 stolen bases. 

Impact player: Jalen Evans, INF

Trusted with a bigger role in the Bulldogs’ infield this season after batting just .100 in 21 appearances off the bench in his freshman year in 2024, Evans has taken his opportunity by the horns and is amidst a breakout sophomore season as Wingate’s strongest contact hitter. 

Batting .363 in 35 starts with 41 hits in 113 at-bats, Evans is speedy (18 stolen bases) and a consistent player in the box who is riding a stretch of hits in 13 of his past 14 games going into the SAC Championship, peaking at the right time for a Wingate program not accustomed to getting bounced out of the postseason early very often. A six-RBI series on the road against Emory & Henry to close out the regular season last weekend could be a sign of things to come.

No. 7 UVA Wise Baseball

Record: 26-21 (14-16)

First game: at No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne, 7 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Majorly outperforming expectations, the Cavaliers, who were projected to finish 12th in the SAC in the preseason coaches’ poll, can now enjoy the spoils of their first-ever berth in the SAC Championship this weekend and try to make some postseason noise. 

Between starting the season a program-record 9-0 and having additionally improved its record by 14 wins from a season ago, UVA Wise is now playing with nothing to lose even with a tough first-round matchup ahead at Lenoir-Rhyne, in which the least-productive lineup in the conference (league-low 264 runs scored) will have to pull out all the stops against one of the biggest offensive juggernauts in the nation. Crazier upsets have happened on the diamond, however, like when the Cavs clobbered SAC champion Catawba by 10 runs March 14.

Impact player: Joshua Morgan, OF/1B

UVA Wise pulled off a slick recruiting coup in the offseason when it snagged Morgan from the junior-college ranks, though his power wasn’t immediately apparent as he only tallied two home runs in 48 games in his final season in JUCO last year. 

The North Carolina native has had no problem adjusting to the jump in quality in D-II ball, however, batting .353 with six homers, 17 doubles, and 34 RBIs in a strong first campaign with the Cavaliers. He’s been by far the most reliable piece in a UVA Wise lineup that can tend to get in slumps, and without him, the Cavs would have likely been long out of the postseason picture. 

No. 8 Newberry Baseball

Record: 25-25 (14-16)

First game: at No. 1 Catawba, 2 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Pitching saved Newberry from an early ending to its season and what would’ve been its first SAC Championship miss since 2010, and six wins in its final seven SAC games (in which it never allowed more than five runs in any of the victories in that stretch) proved crucial as the Wolves were able to sneak by ninth-placed Lincoln Memorial by a game for the final spot in the conference tournament. 

The hitting must improve, however, if Newberry wants to make a run toward the league’s automatic regional bid; the Wolves had the lowest team batting average (.255) of any team in the SAC during conference play, and first-round opponent Catawba swept the Wolves handily in the regular season.

Impact player: Chansen Cole, RHP

The Wolves only hit nine homers in the regular season as they constantly tried to find consistent production in the batter’s box, though in the circle, Cole was continually rock-steady. One of the SAC’s best freshmen, the 6-foot-4 righty had little issue handling the ace role right away in his first college season, finishing as the conference’s runner-up in strikeouts with 91 while going 7-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 81 innings pitched. 

His 15-strikeout, one-hit day in six innings of work in the latter game of a doubleheader against Tusculum on Feb. 14 was the most Ks thrown by a Wolves pitcher in a single game since 2012, and also was one of five different starts on the year in which he fanned at least nine batters.

How To Watch The 2025 SAC Baseball Championship

Fans can watch all the action from the 2025 SAC Softball Tournament live on FloCollege.

Join the College Baseball Conversation On Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloCollegeBSB.
• Follow us on Instagram @flocollegebaseball.
• Like us on Facebook.