Baseball | 4/27/2016 6:51:00 PM

Championship Central | Wingate-Coker Video | Wingate-Coker Live Stats

Kodak, Tenn.----The defending South Atlantic Conference tournament champion Wingate University Bulldogs begin play in the 2016 SAC baseball tournament Thursday night at 7 p.m. Wingate is the number six seed this week, facing seventh-seeded Coker Thursday night. The Bulldogs are 28-20 overall, going 12-12 in conference play. This year's tournament will take place at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn.

The first day of the 2016 SAC Tournament features two single-elimination games. Fifth-seeded Newberry faces number eight seed Lenoir-Rhyne at 4 p.m. Thursday. Top-seeded Catawba will face the lowest remaining seed on Friday, while second-seeded Carson-Newman faces the highest seed advancing from Thursday's action. Catawba plays at noon on Friday, while Carson-Newman plays at 3:45 p.m.

Wingate was the five seed in the 2015 tournament prevailing 17-9 against Carson-Newman to advance to double-elimination play. The Bulldogs lost the following game against Newberry, but bounced back with a 17-3 win against Anderson, followed by a 5-3 victory over Newberry, eliminating both teams. Wingate then eliminated Tusculum with a 12-8 victory to advance to championship Monday. The 'Dogs defeated the regular season champions 8-2 to setup one final game, which Wingate won 11-5 over the Indians to claim the title. The Bulldogs have won six SAC Tournament titles all-time. Before the 2015 title, the most recent championship came in 2011.

The Bulldogs opened SAC play by dropping nine of their first 13 games in 2016, falling to 4-9 in league play after a 1-0 Friday night loss at Tusculum. Wingate responded by sweeping the Saturday doubleheader, then taking two out of three against Brevard. The Bulldogs would go on to sweep Lenoir-Rhyne to move into a tie for third in the league standings entering the final weekend. Catawba won the first two games of the series, but an 11-7 victory in the finale put Wingate in the SAC Tournament.

Wingate's first opponent will be Coker. The Bulldogs and Cobras did not meet this season. The teams played a three-game series in Hartsville last year, with Wingate winning all three contests, prevailing 12-5, 13-5 and 20-4. The Cobras are 28-19 overall, going 12-12 in SAC play. Coker took two out of three against LMU in the second to last series of the year, while dropping two out of three last week against Newberry.

The Wingate offense is led by three all-conference players. 2015 All-American Shane Billings (Kernersville, N.C.) is hitting a league-best .439 as a junior, pounding out a conference-best 86 hits while ranking second in the SAC with seven triples, 27 stolen bases and 65 runs. He ranks third in the league with 124 total bases, fourth with a .502 on-base percentage and eighth with 15 doubles and a .633 slugging percentage. Billings leads the nation in hits, ranking fourth in runs, ninth in triples, 14th in stolen bases and 21st in batting average. He is the toughest in the SAC and 17th toughest in the nation to strikeout.

Senior outfielder Bill Krebs (West Chester, Pa.) is a second team All-SAC selection. Krebs is hitting .297 on the year with 13 homers and 60 RBI, adding 15 doubles and a triple while scoring 47 runs. He ranks second in the conference in RBI, while leading the league in RBI per game. Krebs is fifth in homers, eighth in doubles and ninth in total bases. He ranks 11th nationally in RBI, while ranking second in the nation with eight sacrifice flies.

Sophomore designated hitter Bradley Brown (Rockingham, N.C.) is a two-time All-SAC selection. The 2015 SAC Freshman of the Year put up big numbers as a sophomore despite missing nearly half the year due to injuries. Brown is second on the team with a .355 batting average, piling up 11 homers, six doubles and 32 RBI in just 23 starts. He is eighth in the league in homers, while his .774 slugging percentage would rank second in the league if he had played in enough games.

Wingate's starting rotation has been led by Friday night starter Jordan Newsome (Matthews, N.C.). The senior left-hander is 6-5 with a 4.30 ERA, piling up a team-best 67 strikeouts in a team-high 67 innings. Junior right-hander Brandon Donahue (Charlotte, N.C.) earned honorable mention All-SAC honors, going 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA, compiling 56 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings. Sophomore right-hander Hunter Morgan (Summerfield, N.C.) moved into the weekend rotation towards the end of the year. He notched wins over Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba, allowing four earned runs in 12 innings of work while piling up 18 strikeouts.

The Wingate bullpen is once again led by senior right-hander Tyler Brown (Suffolk, Va.). He is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA, adding six saves in a team-high 25 appearances. Brown has 45 strikeouts in 37 innings this year. Sophomore right-hander Hunter Hamilton (Troy, N.C.) has returned from injury to post a 1.62 ERA in 16 2/3 innings, striking out 19 and walking one. Sophomore Danny Dunning (Mint Hill, N.C.) has a 3.54 ERA in 12 appearances this year while junior right-hander Cameron Price (Indian Trail, N.C.) is 3-0 in 17 appearances, striking out 22 in 19 innings.