INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Valdosta State baseball team learned Sunday evening it qualified as a No. 6-seed and will face No. 3-seed Eckerd Thursday in the South Region #2 bracket hosted by No. 2-seed Delta State in Cleveland, Miss., May 16-18.

The Blazers went 30-21 this season and reached the Gulf South Conference Championship Tuesday, before falling to eventual league champion Delta State, 7-6. Information on the regional will be announced at vstateblazers.com once it is available. Check back with the site for further details.

VSU is making its 20th appearance in the NCAA Championship as the Blazers won the national title in 1979 for the school’s first national title in any sport. VSU is 50-44 all-time in the NCAA Championship in 1979, along with two third-place finishes and three times finishing fourth. This marks the first time since 2017 and the fourth time in the past ten years VSU has qualified for the NCAA Championship. In 2017,

Eckerd won its first baseball Sunshine State Conference title in 38 years and is 30-17 on the year. The Tritons have not played in the NCAA Championship since 1987. Along with VSU, DSU and Eckerd, Embry-Riddle earned the No. 7-seed and will face Delta State in the first game. VSU won three games at Embry-Riddle to open the season.

Tampa, who Eckerd edged for the SSC title, is the top-seed in the other half of the South Regional and will face No. 8-seed Spring Hill College, while No. 4-seed West Florida will face No. 5-seed Nova Southeastern.

The two winners of each “pod” will then face in a best-of-three series at whichever remaining team is the higher seed May 24-25 for a berth in the NCAA Division II College World Series scheduled for June 1-8 in Cary, N.C.