For the first time in program history, the Charlotte 49ers baseball team is Conference USA Tournament Champions after the 49ers defeated regular-season champion Dallas Baptist 5-2 in the title game May 28.
Charlotte (34-26, 17-12 C-USA) leaves Conference USA with its first conference tournament title and has punched its ticket to an NCAA Regional for the seventh time in program history and second time in the last three years under head coach Robert Woodard.
After losing the first game of the tournament, the 49ers fought out of the loser's bracket to become just the third team in league history to win the tournament after dropping its first contest and playing in elimination games the rest of the way. The most recent team to do that was 19 years ago when TCU beat Southern Mississippi in the championship game after losing its first game.
Charlotte placed four players on the C-USA All-Tournament Team, infielders Jack Dragum and Brandon Stahlman, outfielder Cam Fisher and pitcher Paxton Thompson. It's the most All-Tournament selections the Niners have had since having four in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 2011 and matches the program's C-USA Tournament record from 1997.
Fisher was named the tournament's Russell D. Anderson Most Valuable Player after setting multiple tournament records over the week. He hit six home runs, drove in 13 runs and took 33 total bases over the six games, all tournament records. He hit .619 over the week and slugged 1.571, which is the best slugging percentage any player has ever had in the tournament.
He also tied a handful of tournament records, matching teammate Nate Furman's on base percentage of .733 last season, walks drawn with eight, and runs scored with 11.