If it's any consolation ...

As tough as it was for the Sand Sharks and their fans to take USC Beaufort's quick exit from the Sun Conference Baseball Tournament earlier this week, they can take solace in the fact that the two teams who handed USCB its losses in the conference tourney are at present duking it out for the title.

As I write this, Embry-Riddle leads Savannah College of Art and Design 10-3 in the bottom of the seventh, so it looks like the top-seeded Eagles will claim the tournament title to go with their regular-season crown. The Sand Sharks lost 3-1 to SCAD in the opening round and fell 11-6 to Embry-Riddle on Monday, effectively squashing their hopes of advancing to an NAIA regional tournament.

I commented on this in the live chat for Monday's game, but I'm not a big fan of the six-team conference tournament — or at least not the way the bracket is drawn up — and here's why:

USCB was the No. 4 seed, but in my opinion, the Sand Sharks had a tougher draw then the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds. They had an easier first-round game (from a seeding standpoint, anyway) but they drew the No. 1 seed in the second round, meaning they faced two of the top three seeds in their first two games.

Ideally, I would prefer to see eight teams make the tournament, so you can have a more traditional bracket, but I've already learned that the tournament will stay at six teams next year. So I propose a minor tweak: Set up the bracket like an eight-team tournament, but give the top two seeds first-round byes. No. 3 plays No. 6, with the winner getting No. 2; No. 4 plays No. 5, with the winner getting No. 1. Not only does it make the matchups more equitable, but it also gets the byes out of the way early, avoiding any inadvertent shortcuts and rewarding the top seeds.

But that's just my two pennies.

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