Tournament Headquarters

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The mantra was born as soon as the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team's spot in the Sun Conference Tournament was secured — "Last one in. Last one out."

After sneaking into the tournament as the No. 6 seed — with some help from conference champion Embry-Riddle — the Sand Sharks will open the tournament against the top-seeded Eagles at 11 a.m. Tuesday at City of Palms Park. Live stats and audio broadcasts for all games in the tournament will be provided through Stretch Internet. 

The double-elimination tournament continues through Friday, with the champion earning a bid to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The Sand Sharks (23-21) need to win the tournament — or finish as runner-up to Embry-Riddle, which already has secured a bid by winning the regular-season title — to extend their season. 

Led by junior outfielder Blake Cilwick, who was named to the All-Sun Conference second team at Monday's tournament banquet, the Sand Sharks are playing their best baseball of the season. USCB won seven of its last 10 games to avoid missing the postseason for the first time in the program's five-year history. 

Now the Sand Sharks get yet another postseason date with Embry-Riddle, which enters the tournament ranked sixth in the nation. The teams met twice in the postseason last year, with the Eagles eliminating the Sand Sharks from the conference tournament and USCB returning the favor in the Avista-NAIA World Series. The Eagles lead the all-time series 13-6, including a three-game sweep at USCB on Feb. 15-16.

The winner of Tuesday's contest advances to face the loser of Game 3 between St. Thomas and Webber International at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The loser falls into an elimination game against the loser of Game 2 between Ave Maria and Southeastern at 11 a.m. Wednesday.