NWF Baseball Secures No. 2 Seed In Region VIII Tournament; Set To Face Polk State For Second Straight Year
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a social media post issued by the FCSAA Tuesday morning, the bracket and seeding for this years Region VIII Tournament was revealed. Northwest Florida State Baseball secured the No. 2 seed in this years tournament and will face No. 7 seed Polk State in the first round this weekend (May 3-5) at the NWF Baseball Complex.
Remarkably, this is the second straight year the Raiders and Eagles will meet in the first round of the tournament. Last years series in Niceville had all the makings of a postseason classic. Northwest Florida defeated Polk State in three games, taking the series with a dramatic ninth-inning walk-off home run, courtesy of Blake Cavill, sending them to the next round of the Tournament. If this weekend's series proves to be anything like last years, fans are in for a real treat.
The Raiders are coming off another 30 win year after going 31-13 during the regular season, marking the fourth consecutive year they've surpassed this mark. This includes a 16-8 record in conference play which was good enough to secure their second consecutive Panhandle Conference Championship, solidifying a berth in the Region VIII Tournament and an opportunity at hosting another first round regional.
Featuring a 9-3 record during the final month of the regular season, Northwest Florida was able to outlast Chipola for the top spot in the Conference and earn one of the top four seeds, ultimately drawing the two-seed.
Polk State enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed after finishing their regular season with a 33-23 record, including 18-15 in conference play, good enough to finish fifth in the Citrus Conference. After a 7-2 start to the month of April, the Eagles were able to edge out Central Florida for the final automatic bid, despite losing four of their last five games. Now they have the pleasure of returning to Niceville where they will face the same team that eliminated them in last years tournament.
Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday at 5:00 p.m. with game two set for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. If neither team is able to win back-to-back games Friday and Saturday, the series will move to a decisive game three on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. to determine who will move on to Tampa, Fla. for the second round.
Tickets will be available at the event the day of the game. General admission will be $10. Raider Club Members will be granted free admission and will have the opportunity to grab some free pizza (Friday) and popcorn (Saturday). Niceville Chick-Fil-A will also be in attendance distributing free sandwich coupons to all fans who attend.