List of Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball champions

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This article is about the SWAC's overall conference baseball champions. For a list of baseball tournament champions, see Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament.
List of Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball champions
Conference baseball championship
Conference logo
SportBaseball
ConferenceSouthwestern Athletic Conference
Played1921–1932, 1949–2019, 2021–Present
Last contest2022
Current championAlabama State
Most championshipsSouthern, 34
Winner trophySouthwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Championship
Official websitehttps://swac.org/feature/swacbaseball2021

This list of Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball champions concerns the overall conference baseball championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Southwestern Athletic Conference. The top four finishers in each conference division participate in a two-bracket, double-elimination tournament to determine the overall conference champion; it was most recently played in Birmingham, Alabama, between May 25 and May 29.[1] The winner of the tournament also receives an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament and, since 2019, to the HBCU World Series.[2]

History[edit]

Background[edit]

The SWAC was established in 1920,[3] and the conference is known to have sponsored baseball as a league sport until around the uncertain times of the Great Depression and World World II before sanctioning it again in 1949[4] (even early SWAC power Wiley College shut down its baseball program after the 1932 season, despite featuring a rising young star infielder from the Chicago area in Pat Patterson[5]). Between 1959 and 2003, only Southern, Jackson State, and Grambling State won SWAC championships. The league office itself has even been known to refer to these schools as the "Big Three."[6] However, since 2004, seven programs have won championships, suggesting greater competitiveness in the league.[6] Also, with the SWAC tournament now including eight schools,[7] simply more lower-seeded teams have an opportunity to compete for the conference crown.

Determining conference champions[edit]

Though the league championship was normally determined by the regular season conference standings, for the first three seasons after the SWAC had renewed sponsorship of baseball in 1949, a championship series was held;[8][9][10] the conference was divided into northern and southern divisions during that time period.[11] In 1977 the league returned to division play—this time with eastern and western divisions (reflecting the changes in conference membership)—with the division winners again facing off in a best-of-three championship series.[12] After the 1980 series featured a fourth consecutive JSU–SU match-up,[13][14][15] the series was successfully converted into a more inclusive four-team, double-elimination tournament for the 1981 season, guaranteeing that at least one school that had never won the SWAC title before could compete in it (the four-team field was expanded to six teams in 2000[16] and eight teams in 2008[7]).

Current status[edit]

A three-year deal was signed in 2020 to return the tournament to Smith–Wills Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi.[17] However, just two weeks after that agreement was announced, the NCAA canceled all spring championship events for the 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] Then, less than a month before the 2021 tournament, it was announced that it would be relocated from Jackson to Toyota Field in Madison, Alabama "due to enhanced COVID-19 protocols."[19] The 2022 tournament was split between Regions Field and Jerry D. Young Memorial Field in Birmingham.[20]

Champions[edit]

Conference championships by year[edit]

The following is a list of conference champions, organized by year.[21] The league office apparently does not acknowledge titles earned prior to 1959 in its public releases.[6][22][23] It is not immediately clear if this is due to space constraints or poor record-keeping—or if the conference simply does not consider pre-1959 titles as "official." At that time the SWAC began to change significantly with a shift in membership from smaller, private Christian colleges in and around Texas—many of whom are now members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics's Red River Athletic Conference—to larger, secular public universities spread throughout the Deep South (Grambling and Jackson State were particularly notable additions, especially as far as baseball competition was concerned). Southern also won the NAIA World Series in 1959. The conference began changing demographically at that time as well, with southern universities beginning to integrate.

Former Grambling State head coach and National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Prez Jones.
Year Champion(s) Coach(es)
1949 Bishop College[8] Forrest Kelley[8]
Shannon Little[8]
1950 Southern[9][26][27][28][29] Bob Lee[27]
1951 Texas College[10] Ernest Sterling[30]
1952 Southern[31][27][28][32] Bob Lee[27]
1953 Southern[33][27] Bob Lee[27]
1954 Southern[34][35][28] Bob Lee[27]
Wiley College[34][35] Forrest Kelley[36]
1955 Southern[37][28][29] Bob Lee[27]
1956 Wiley College[38] Forrest Kelley[38]
1957 Southern[4][39][27][28] Bob Lee[27]
1958 Wiley College[40][39][41][25] Forrest Kelley[42][25]
1959 Southern Bob Lee
1960 Southern Bob Lee
1961 Grambling State Prez Jones
1962 Grambling State Prez Jones
1963 Grambling State Prez Jones
1964 Grambling State Prez Jones
1965 Southern Emory Hines
1966 Southern Emory Hines
1967 Grambling State Prez Jones
1968 Jackson State Bob Hill
1969 Southern Emory Hines
1970 Southern Emory Hines
1971 Jackson State W. C. Gorden
1972 Southern Emory Hines
1973 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1974 Southern Emory Hines
1975 Southern Emory Hines
1976 Southern Emory Hines
1977 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1978 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1979 Southern Leroy Boyd
1980 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1981 Southern Leroy Boyd
1982 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1983 Grambling State Wilbert Ellis
1984 Grambling State Wilbert Ellis
1985 Grambling State Wilbert Ellis
1986 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1987 Southern Roger Cador
1988 Southern Roger Cador
1989 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1990 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1991 Southern Roger Cador
1992 Southern Roger Cador
1993 Jackson State Bob Braddy
Southern Roger Cador
1994 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1995 Jackson State Bob Braddy
1996 Southern Roger Cador
1997 Southern Roger Cador
1998 Southern Roger Cador
1999 Southern Roger Cador
2000 Jackson State Bob Braddy
2001 Southern Roger Cador
2002 Southern Roger Cador
2003 Southern Roger Cador
2004 Texas Southern Candy Robinson
2005 Southern Roger Cador
2006 Prairie View A&M Michael Robertson
2007 Prairie View A&M Michael Robertson
2008 Texas Southern Candy Robinson
2009 Southern Roger Cador
2010 Grambling State James Cooper
2011 Alcorn State Barrett Rey
2012 Prairie View A&M Waskyla Cullivan
2013 Jackson State Omar Johnson
2014 Jackson State Omar Johnson
2015 Texas Southern Michael Robertson
2016 Alabama State Mervyl Melendez
2017 Texas Southern Michael Robertson
2018 Texas Southern Michael Robertson
2019 Southern Kerrick Jackson
2020 (tournament canceled, due to COVID-19 pandemic)[18]
2021 Southern Chris Crenshaw
2022 Alabama State José Vázquez

Note: in 1993 Jackson State and Southern were declared co-champions, due to weather forcing the cancellation of the SWAC baseball tournament final.

Conference championships by school[edit]

School No. of
titles		 Year(s)
Southern 34 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2019, 2021
Jackson State 16 1968, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2013, 2014
Grambling State 9 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1983, 1984, 1985, 2010
Texas Southern 5 2004, 2008, 2015, 2017, 2018
Prairie View A&M 4 1925, 2006, 2007, 2012
Wiley College 4 1925, 1954, 1956, 1958
Alabama State 2 2016, 2022
Alcorn State 1 2011
Bishop College 1 1949
Texas College 1 1951

Western Division championships by school[edit]

School No. of
titles		 Year(s)
Southern 30 1977,[14] 1978,[14] 1979,[14] 1980,[43] 1982,[44] 1984,[45] 1986,[46] 1987,[47] 1990,[48] 1991,[49] 1992,[50] 1994,[51] 1995,[52] 1996,[53] 1997,[54] 1998,[55] 1999,[56] 2000,[57] 2001,[58] 2002,[59] 2003,[60] 2004,[61] 2005,[62] 2008,[63] 2009,[64] 2011,[65] 2012, 2013, 2019, 2022
Grambling State 7 1981, 1983,[66] 1985,[67] 1988,[68] 1989,[69] 1993,[70] 2017
Arkansas–Pine Bluff 3 2014, 2015, 2016
Prairie View A&M 3 2006,[71] 2007,[72] 2021
Texas Southern 3 2005,[62] 2010,[73] 2018

Eastern Division championships by school[edit]

School No. of
titles		 Year(s)
Jackson State 26 1977,[14] 1978,[14] 1979,[14] 1980,[43] 1982,[44] 1984,[45] 1986,[46] 1987,[47] 1989,[69] 1990,[48] 1991,[49] 1992,[50] 1993,[70] 1994,[51] 1995,[52] 1996,[53] 1998,[55] 1999,[56] 2000,[57] 2007,[72] 2008,[74] 2010,[73] 2012, 2013, 2017, 2021
Alcorn State 7 1981, 1985,[67] 1988,[75] 1997,[54] 2001,[58] 2002,[59] 2011[76]
Alabama State 6 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022
Mississippi Valley State 6 1983,[77] 2003,[78] 2004,[78] 2005,[78] 2006,[78] 2009[79]

Note: in 2006 Jackson State initially clinched at least a share of the Eastern Division championship[80] but, after forfeiting conference games for the use of ineligible players, fell behind Mississippi Valley State by the final division standings.[78]

Northern Division championships by school[edit]

School No. of
titles		 Year(s)
Bishop College 3 1949,[81] 1950,[9] 1951[10]
Arkansas–Pine Bluff 1 1949[81]

Southern Division championships by school[edit]

School No. of
titles		 Year(s)
Southern 2 1949,[81] 1950[9]
Texas College 1 1951[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2022 SWAC Baseball Tournament Set to be Held at Regions Field". swac.org. January 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  2. ^ "NCAT, Southern Canceled". meacsports.com. May 22, 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  3. ^ "Athletics: SWAC History". www.swac.org. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  4. ^ a b "Southern Wins Conference Title". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. C, p. 2). May 5, 1957.
  5. ^ Bill Johnson. "Andrew Patterson". Sabr.org. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  6. ^ a b c "SWAC Notebook - May 13: Will Recent Baseball Tournament Trend Continue?". www.swac.org. May 13, 2009. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  7. ^ a b "2008 SWAC Baseball Tournament brackets are set". swac.org. May 12, 2008. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  8. ^ a b c d "Bishop Captures Baseball Playoff". Marshall (Tex.) News Messenger (sec. A, p. 2). May 12, 1949.
  9. ^ a b c d "Bishop Loses Title Series". Marshall (Tex.) News Messenger (sec. B, p. 1). May 7, 1950.
  10. ^ a b c d "Texas College Plays Bishop Nine Today". Tyler (Tex.) Morning Telegraph (p. 10). March 14, 1952.
  11. ^ "Bishop, Southern In Title Playoff". Marshall (Tex.) News Messenger (sec. B, p. 3). May 8, 1949.
  12. ^ "Jags Eye 4th Straight Baseball Title: Open Season Feb. 27". Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate (sec. C, p. 9). January 30, 1977.
  13. ^ "LA. College Baseball Roundup: Jackson State Nips Jags To Win Title". Baton Rouge State–Times (sec. C, p.5). May 1, 1978.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Joe Planas (April 30, 1979). "Smith's 2-Run Homer Gives Southern SWAC Crown, 5–3". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 1).
  15. ^ "Barber pitches Jags into SWAC playoffs". Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate (sec. F, p. 4). May 4, 1980.
  16. ^ Joseph Schiefelbein (May 4, 2000). "Jaguars look for fourth straight SWAC title". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 1).
  17. ^ "SWAC baseball tournament coming to Mississippi". Associated Press News. February 28, 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  18. ^ a b Stacey Osburn (March 12, 2020). "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships". www.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  19. ^ "2021 SWAC Baseball Tournament Relocated to Toyota Field". bamastatesports.com. April 23, 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  20. ^ "Composite Schedule". swac.org. May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  21. ^ "All-Time SWAC Champions List" (PDF). SWAC. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  22. ^ "Past Baseball Champions". swac.org. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  23. ^ "All-Time Champions". swac.org. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  24. ^ a b "Athletics". The Prairie yearbook (p. 192). 1926.
  25. ^ a b c "Wiley College". encyclopedia.sabr.org. July 27, 2009. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  26. ^ "Southern Cats to Battle Xavier's Gold Rush Nine". New Orleans Times–Picayune (p. 24). April 9, 1951.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Final Rites Set Today For Bob Lee". Baton Rouge State–Times (sec. C, p. 6). December 8, 1970.
  28. ^ a b c d e "Southern University Jaguars Baseball: 2009 SWAC Baseball Champions". www3.subr.edu. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  29. ^ a b "Episode Three - Meet Coach Dan Canevari". The Coach Roger Cador Show. March 11, 2015. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  30. ^ "Play Here Friday: Bishop, Texas College Vie Tonight in Tyler". Marshall (Tex.) News Messenger (B, p. 1). May 2, 1951.
  31. ^ "Xavier, Southern Collide in Benefit Contest Today". New Orleans Times–Picayune (p. 13). May 17, 1952.
  32. ^ "Southern University and A & M College". encyclopedia.sabr.org. July 27, 2009. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  33. ^ "Southern Stages Athletic Banquet". Baton Rouge State–Times (sec. B, p. 4). May 19, 1953.
  34. ^ a b "Jaguar Cats Win Southwest Track Crown". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 2). May 9, 1954.
  35. ^ a b "Panthers Bow Twice To Wiley Ball Team". New York Age Defender (p. 19). May 15, 1954.
  36. ^ U. G. Lee (July 13, 1957). "Kelley Resigns Wiley Grid Post" (PDF). Memphis Tri-State Defender (p. 14).
  37. ^ "Southern Nine Captures SWC Baseball Title". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. B, p. 4). May 7, 1955.
  38. ^ a b N. Hodge (March 8, 1957). "Wiley College Nine Opens '57 Baseball Drills". Montgomery Alabama Tribune (p. 6).
  39. ^ a b James Prosek, ed. (1959). Blue Book of College Athletics for 1959–60. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  40. ^ "Jaguars' '59 Baseball Slate Is Announced". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. B, p. 2). June 24, 1958.
  41. ^ "Southern Nine To Close Slate Against MVC". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 5). May 14, 1959.
  42. ^ "SWAC Officials Set Plans For 1958 Football Season". Huntsville (Ala.) Mirror (p. 7). August 9, 1958.
  43. ^ a b "Jackson puts Southern out". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 1). May 5, 1980.
  44. ^ a b "Jags open SWAC playoffs Thursday". Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate (sec. C, p. 2). May 2, 1982.
  45. ^ a b Ron Higgins (May 3, 1984). "Jags open bid for SWAC baseball title today". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 2).
  46. ^ a b "In Brief: Jag baseball team in SWAC tourney". Baton Rouge State–Times (sec. E, p. 1). April 30, 1986.
  47. ^ a b "JSU wins SWAC East after free-for-all". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 5).
  48. ^ a b "5 Jaguars make All-SWAC team". Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate (sec. C, p. 11).
  49. ^ a b "SWAC regular-season baseball declared over". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 3). April 30, 1991.
  50. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (April 29, 1992). "SU counts on Calvin, Bennett". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, p. 1).
  51. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (April 29, 1994). "SU team to beat in SWAC: Jaguars go for four in a row". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, p. 1).
  52. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (April 28, 1995). "SWAC tourney opens: Southern to face Alcorn in nightcap". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. E, p. 1).
  53. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (April 17, 1996). "Time Out: Jaguars paying attention to detail". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, p. 1).
  54. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (April 19, 1997). "SWAC Spring Sports Championships: J-State deals SU 5–4 tourney loss". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. F, p. 1).
  55. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (April 15, 1998). "High Expectations: Southern places focus on SWAC tournament". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, pp. 1–2).
  56. ^ a b Joseph Schiefelbein (May 7, 1999). "Team play could carry SU to crown". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. E, p. 1).
  57. ^ a b Joseph Schiefelbein (May 5, 2000). "Southern to face Texas Southern today". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. E, p. 5).
  58. ^ a b Joseph Schiefelbein (May 5, 2001). "Southern goes deep on TSU: Jaguars use 'team effort' to advance in SWAC". Baton Rouge Saturday (sec. E, p. 1).
  59. ^ a b "SWAC Glance". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 3). May 2, 2002.
  60. ^ Joseph Schiefelbein (April 20, 2003). "Pressure no problem for Southern: Jaguars clinch SWAC West". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 1).
  61. ^ Joseph Schiefelbein (May 6, 2004). "Jaguars look for X-factors: Southern faces Jackson State in SWAC Tournament today". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. E, p. 1).
  62. ^ a b "Home runs pace Southern to sweep of TSU". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 11). May 8, 2005.
  63. ^ Joseph Schiefelbein (May 18, 2008). "Goldman, Aceto lift Prairie View". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 8).
  64. ^ Perryn Keys (May 17, 2009). "SWAC tourney questions: League set to converge on Lee–Hines Field". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 7).
  65. ^ Perryn Keys (May 17, 2011). "Family comes 1st for Jaguars' Hall". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, pp. 1–2).
  66. ^ "State college roundup: Southern". Baton Rouge State–Times (sec. C, p. 4). May 14, 1983.
  67. ^ a b Joe Planas (May 1, 1985). "SU coach thinks Jaguars can take golf, tennis titles". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 8).
  68. ^ "Grambling players recognized". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. C, p. 5). May 17, 1988.
  69. ^ a b "Grambling elimates Southern: G-Men, J-State meet for SWAC championship". Baton Rouge State–Times (sec. C, p. 1). May 1, 1989.
  70. ^ a b Scott Gremillion (May 10, 1993). "Jaguars, Tigers named co-champs". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, p. 1).
  71. ^ "Hornets Headed For SWAC Baseball Tournament". bamastatesports.com. May 12, 2006. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  72. ^ a b "2006-07 Southwestern Athletic Conference Year in Review" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com (p. 7). 2007. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  73. ^ a b Scott Hotard (May 18, 2010). "SU, Alcorn to meet before tournament". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, p. 2).
  74. ^ Jamea Adams-Ginyard, ed. (2009). "2009 Jackson State Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Jackson State University Athletic Media Relation Department (p. 2).
  75. ^ Lee Feinswog (May 2, 1988). "Jaguars advance to final: Southern to face Grambling again". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. C, p. 1).
  76. ^ "SWAC Baseball: West Settled; East Scenarios". swac.org. May 9, 2011. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  77. ^ "Jaguars rally for 11–6 win, face G-Men next". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. C, p. 2). May 7, 1983.
  78. ^ a b c d e "Jackson State out of SWAC tournament". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. E, p. 5). May 11, 2006.
  79. ^ "West teams dominate Day 1 of Baseball Tournament". swac.org. May 20, 2009. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  80. ^ "SWAC East affected by decision". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. D, p. 2). May 5, 2006.
  81. ^ a b c "Arkansas State, Bishop Tangle In Playoff Series". Marshall (Tex.) News Messenger (p. 7). May 3, 1949.
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