The tournament was originally held from 1950 to 1953, when the Southern Conference was a large conference composed of several small schools and several large schools, the latter of which would form the Atlantic Coast Conference after the 1953 season. The event was re-established in 1984 and has been held every year since with the exception of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled sporting events across the country. Western Carolina has claimed ten championships, the most of any school, with The Citadel close behind at eight tournament wins. Defending champion Mercer and Samford are the only other current schools with multiple championships, having each won two. East Tennessee State and VMI have never won a title, although they both returned to the conference in 2015 after over ten years in other conferences. Furman, which dropped its baseball program before the 2021 season, won two titles.
The tournament will be played in Greenville, which has hosted seven of the past eleven events, including the past four.[3]
Seeding and format
In a change from most years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only four teams will participate. The top team from each division, and the next two teams by conference winning percentage, regardless of division, will qualify.[3]