Montgomery, Ala. -The Southern States Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament opens at the Auburn University Montgomery Baseball Complex on Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m. The top eight teams in the SSAC will face off in the double-elimination event through Saturday with an automatic bid to the NAIA Regional Tournament on the line.

Interim Athletic Director Steve Crotz welcomes the teams and Montgomery area fans to the AUM campus and stated, "AUM is honored to be the host of the 2007 SSAC Baseball Post-Season Tournament.  We would like to congratulate the eight teams who have qualified for the tourney and invite the Montgomery region to come and watch several days' worth of exciting and talented college baseball action."

The host AUM Senators (43-9, 24-3) enter this year's event as the No.1 seed and will face the No. 8 seed Reinhardt College Eagles (28-25, 11-16) in the first round at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.  AUM is currently ranked as the No. 4 team in the NAIA and swept the three-game regular season series at Reinhardt.  Senior second baseman Junior Kelley of Whatley is currently leading the Senators at the plate with a .471 batting average, 61 RBI and 10 home runs.  For Reinhardt, junior first baseman Daniel Jape of Woodstock, Ga., is hitting at a .370 pace with 45 RBI and seven homers.

Lee University (42-10, 21-6) takes the field as the No. 2 seed versus the No. 7 Shorter College Hawks (28-26, 12-15) to open the tournament at 10 a.m.  The Flames are ranked No. 12 in the NAIA and took two of three games from the Hawks at home earlier this year.  Lee features senior infielder Lance Zawadzki from Shrewsbury, Mass., who took the SSAC regular season batting crown with a .489 average, 60 RBI and eight home runs.  Shorter's Kyle Donovan, a senior catcher from Lebanon, Ill., batted .423 with three homers and drove in 25 runs on the year.

No. 3 seeded Southern Polytechnic State (40-15, 18-9) faces the No. 6 Berry College Vikings (30-23, 12-15) at 1 p.m.  The NAIA's No. 20 rated Runnin' Hornets of Southern Poly feature one of the most productive pitching staffs in the conference this season led by right-handed senior Stephen Flake of Marietta, Ga., who notched an 8-3 record to go along with a 2.41 ERA and 84 strike outs.  For Berry, Jonathan Webster, a senior infielder from Hoover, hit .389, drove in 47 runners and swatted eight homers on the year.  The Hornets closed out the regular season last weekend by taking two of three games from Berry.

The Faulkner Eagles (30-21-1, 15-11-1) come into the tournament as the No. 4 seed and challenge the No. 5 Southern Wesleyan Warriors (32-19, 14-13) beginning at 4 p.m.  Faulkner lost the regular season meeting between the schools two games to one.  The Eagles' senior catcher Eric Lindley of Pinson paced the team's hitting with a .380 average, 31 RBI and eight round trippers.  Junior Kody Hightower, junior, Lenoir, N.C., hit .399 for the Warriors with 46 RBI and five homers.

Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 for students with a valid ID, and $1 for kids 12 years-old and younger.  Gates will open at 9 a.m.  Tickets are available at the gates.