The Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament will have a new format when the 2011 event is held in may in Monroe, LA.

Conference coaches have voted to change the event to an eight-team round robin tournament, with four teams in two pools. Each team will be guaranteed three games. The format is similar to the one used by the ACC.

Pool A will consist of seeds 1, 4, 5, and 8. Seeds 2, 3, 6, and 7 will be in Pool B. Three games will be played on each of the first three days of the tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 25.

If more than one team is tied at the end of pool play the following tie-breaking procedures will be used to decide which team will advance to the championship game:

TWO TEAMS TIED
The team that won the head-to-head competition in championship games will advance.

THREE TEAMS TIED
The team with the highest seed in the respective bracket will advance.

The change in format is the first change since the 1999 season when the tournament expanded to an eight-team double-elimination setup. FIU won the SBC tournament in 2010, defeating Troy 14-10 in each team’s sixth game of the tournament.

The 2011 SBC Baseball Tournament will be hosted by Louisiana-Monroe May 25-29.