The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference
The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference

SEC Baseball Tournament History

1678 days ago
Photo: R.D. Moore

The Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament returns for a 22nd consecutive year to the Hoover Metropolitan Complex in the south-Birmingham city of Hoover, Ala., May 21-26.

The 2019 SEC Baseball Tournament will continue to feature 12 teams and will remain set to begin on Tuesday, May 21. Seeds 5-12 will meet in a single elimination format on the opening day of the tournament, followed by traditional double-elimination play Wednesday-Friday. The tournament will return to single elimination play on Saturday. A total of 17 games will be played throughout the tournament.

The 12 teams are seeded 1-12 with the two divisional champions and top four seeds guaranteed opening-round byes, with the possibility of earning another later in the bracket. The tournament field will include the top teams from the SEC's Eastern and Western Divisions plus 10 at-large bids seeded 3-12 based on conference winning percentage.

In 2018, Ole Miss defeated LSU 9-1 in the championship game to give Ole Miss its sixth SEC Tournament title.

The Hoover Met formerly served as home of the Double-A Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox) of the Southern League. The stadium also has served as host of the NCAA Men's Soccer Final Four, as well as home to the nationally renowned Hoover Buccaneer high school football program.

Located eight miles south of Birmingham, the Hoover Met seats 10,800 for baseball, but can accommodate over 16,000 when the patio, banquet and side grassy areas are used. The stadium also houses 12 suites and state-of-the-art dressing and training rooms. Wireless internet access was added in 2004, concourse and signage renovation was done in 2005 and a second-level press box expansion, new stadium seating and an exterior facelift in 2007 completed a $6 million renovation project. A new HD video scoreboard was added in 2008, while the SEC introduced the nation to a 'pitch clock' in 2010. A new sound systems and concourse amenities such as refurbished restrooms big screen HDTVs at concessions stands were added in 2012.

The Finley Center, a new 155,000 square foot entertainment facility, opened in 2017 as part of the first phase of an $80 million Hoover Metropolitan Complex that also includes outdoor fields and event space.