Tulane No. 1 seed in NCAA tourney
By Dennis Waszak Jr.
Associated Press
Tulane was selected as the top seed for the 64-team Division I college baseball tournament yesterday.
The Green Wave (50-9), led by two-way stars Brian Bogusevic and Micah Owings, were ranked near the top of the major polls all season. Tulane, which opens against Southern, will host one of 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals that begin Friday.
"This is a credit to our kids," coach Rick Jones said. "They performed all year, had preseason accolades and it's not easy to go out every day when you know you're going to get the 'A' game of every other team you play."
The other national seeds, in order, are: Georgia Tech (42-16), Nebraska (51-13), Baylor (39-21), Mississippi (44-18), defending champion Cal State Fullerton (41-15), Florida (40-20) and Oregon State (41-9). Those schools can only face each other if they advance to the College World Series.
The Southeastern Conference had nine teams receive berths, tying the record it set last year. Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee are all in the tournament.
The Atlantic Coast Conference was second with seven berths: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Virginia.
The Hurricanes (38-17-1) are making their 33rd straight appearance to extend their NCAA record.
Three teams are making their first tournament appearances: North Carolina A&T (27-25), Quinnipiac (26-22) and Rhode Island (34-19).
Rice (41-17) was the lone Western Athletic Conference team to earn a bid.
Oregon State is in the field for the first time since 1986, while Furman won the Southern Conference to earn its first berth since 1991.
Each of the four-team, double-elimination regionals will be played on campus sites from June 3 to 6. The winners of each regional will advance to the super regionals, played June 10 to 13.
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NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals
Friday's games
At Clemson, S.C.
College of Charleston (47-13) vs. Oral Roberts (40-18)
Clemson (39-21) vs. North Carolina A&M (27-25)
At Atlanta
South Carolina (38-21) vs. Michigan (41-17)
Georgia Tech (41-17) vs. Furman (38-21)
At Gainesville, Fla.
North Carolina (40-17-1) vs. Notre Dame (36-22-1)
Florida (40-20) vs. Stetson (35-26)
At Coral Gables, Fla.
Mississippi State (40-20) vs. Florida Atlantic (36-22)
Miami (38-17-1) vs. Virginia Commonwealth (33-20)
At Tallahassee, Fla.
Auburn (32-24) vs. South Alabama (35-25)
Florida State (50-18) vs. Army (38-12)
At Knoxville, Tenn.
Winthrop (43-20) vs. Wichita State (49-27)
Tennessee (41-19) vs. Austin Peay (38-22)
At Oxford, Miss.
Southern Mississippi (41-19) vs. Oklahoma (33-24)
Mississippi (44-18) vs. Maine (34-17)
At Baton Rouge, La.
LSU (38-20) vs. Marist (33-19)
Rice (41-17) vs. Northwestern State (40-18)
At New Orleans
Tulane (50-9) vs. Southern University (29-16)
Alabama (38-21) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (47-17)
At Waco, Texas
Texas Christian (40-18) vs. Stanford (32-23)
Baylor (39-21) vs. Texas-San Antonio (27-32)
At Austin, Texas
Arkansas (37-20) vs. Miami (Ohio) (44-16)
Texas (45-14) vs. Quinnipiac (26-22)
At Lincoln, Neb.
Nebraska (51-13) vs. Illinois-Chicago (38-19-1)
North Carolina State (40-17) vs. Creighton (46-15)
At Tempe, Ariz.
Arizona State (34-22) vs. East Carolina (35-24)
Coastal Carolina (48-14) vs. UNLV (34-27)
At Fullerton, Calif.
Arizona (37-19) vs. Missouri (39-21)
Cal State Fullerton (41-15) vs. Harvard (29-15)
At Long Beach, Calif.
Southern California (37-19) vs. Pepperdine (38-21)
Long Beach State (36-20) vs. Rhode Island (34-19)
At Corvallis, Ore.
Virginia (41-18) vs. St. John's (39-16)
Oregon State (41-9) vs. Ohio State (39-18)
