FLORENCE, SC – Despite finishing third during the Peach Belt Conference regular season and reaching the PBC Tournament title game, the Francis Marion University baseball team was not among the six squads from the South Atlantic Region extended invitations to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The 48-team field was released early Monday (May 12).

Mount Olive College (49-5) will host the regional, with Columbus State University (39-15), USC Aiken (43-13), North Georgia College & state University (37-19), Belmont Abbey College (40-20), and Erskine College (44-11) filling out the field.

North Georgia earned the Peach Belt’s automatic bid with a 10-8 win over FMU in Sunday’s tournament title game, while Mount Olive earned the Conference Carolinas’ automatic bid.

Francis Marion finished its season with a 34-20 overall record. The Patriots were 2-2 against both Columbus State and USCA this past season and 3-2 against North Georgia. FMU did not play Belmont Abbey or Erskine and was 0-1 against Mount OIive.

Francis Marion was ranked sixth in the most recent regional poll, with North Georgia ranked seventh, but the Saints winning the PBC Tournament hurt FMU’s chances.

The Patriots have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three of the past six seasons, and have won at least 34 games in each of the last four seasons under head coach Art Inabinet.