LSU will play host to an NCAA
regional tournament for the 16th straight season and for the 17th time overall.
The NCAA Baton Rouge Regional begins on Friday, June 3 and continues through
either Sunday, June 5 or Monday, June 6.
“We’re very pleased to be selected
as a host site,” said LSU coach Smoke Laval. “It’s a tribute to our players for
the success they’ve enjoyed this season. I’m especially happy for our seniors,
because it gives them another opportunity to play in Alex Box Stadium. This will
be their fourth straight home regional, and they’ve also played in two super
regionals at home. I think it’s great for them to have the chance to experience
the incredible post-season atmosphere in Alex
Box.”
The Baton Rouge Regional will feature LSU and three
other teams in a double-elimination format. The teams, seedings and brackets for
the Baton Rouge
Regional and the entire NCAA Tournament field will be announced at 10:30 a.m.
Monday on ESPN.
NCAA Baton Rouge Regional tickets
will go on sale at 8 a.m. Monday to LSU students and to fans that are on the LSU
baseball season ticket waiting list. Tickets will go on sale at 8 a.m. Wednesday
to the general public.
Regional ticket booklets are $75
(gold seats), $60 (grandstand seats) and $50 (bleacher seats). All orders
will include a processing fee.
Ticket orders may
be placed by phone at 225-578-2184 or 800-960-8587, or tickets may be purchased
at www.LSUsports.net.
Orders may also be placed in person
at the LSU ticket office weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The ticket office is
located on the first floor of the LSU athletic administration
building.
Payments may be made by cash,
check, VISA, MasterCard or American Express.
The NCAA Division I
Baseball Committee will set the entire 64-team bracket Monday through both the
super regionals and the first round of the Men's College World Series. The
committee will not reseed the field after play begins. Selection of the eight
super regional hosts will be announced on the ESPN Bottom Line Tuesday, June 7
at 11 a.m. Central time.
The 16 regional sites announced
Sunday, with host institutions and records through Saturday, May 28, are as
follows:
Arizona State (33-22), Tempe, Arizona
Baylor (39-20), Waco, Texas
Cal State
Fullerton (41-14), Fullerton, California
Clemson (39-21), Clemson, South
Carolina
Florida
(40-20), Gainesville,
Florida
Florida State
(50-18), Tallahassee,
Florida
Georgia Tech (41-16),
Atlanta, Georgia
LSU (38-20), Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Long
Beach State (36-20),
Long Beach, California
Miami (Florida) (38-17-1),
Coral Gables, Florida
Mississippi (44-17), Oxford, Mississippi
Nebraska (50-13), Lincoln, Nebraska
Oregon State
(41-9), Corvallis,
Oregon
Tennessee (41-19), Knoxville, Tennessee
Texas (45-14), Austin, Texas
Tulane (50-9), New Orleans, Louisiana
All regionals will be held on campus
sites.
By virtue of being awarded a
regional, nine of the host institutions also have been selected as at-large
teams to the 64-team field. Arizona State, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU,
Long Beach State, Miami (Fla.), Tennessee and Texas have made the field as
at-large selections.
Five teams could win automatic
berths Sunday in their respective conference tournaments. Baylor, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Nebraska and Tulane could clinch automatic
berths by winning their conference tournament championship, which are scheduled
for Sunday afternoon. A loss in those tournament championship games makes them
an at-large selection.
Cal State Fullerton and Oregon State already have clinched automatic
berths by virtue of winning the Big West Conference and Pacific-10 Conference,
respectively.
Oregon State will host a regional for the first time, while
Long Beach State, Mississippi and Tulane are hosting for the
second time in school history. This will be the 24th time that Florida State
has hosted a regional, while Miami and Texas are hosting for the
21st time since the NCAA went to the regional format in 1975.
LSU is hosting a regional for the
17th time, while Arizona State (16th), Clemson (10th), Georgia Tech (seventh),
Florida (seventh), Cal State Fullerton (fifth),
Tennessee (fifth), Nebraska (fourth), and
Baylor (third) have hosted in the past as well.
Seven sites (Cal State Fullerton,
Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Miami,
Mississippi and Texas) also hosted in 2004. Long Beach State hosted a super regional last year,
but did not host a regional.
Thirty Division I conferences
receive an automatic berth in the field of 64, along with 34 at-large
selections.
The 59th Men's College World Series
begins play Friday, June 17, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.