Baseball Earns No. 7 National Seed, Hosts Stetson on Friday
Monday, May 30, 2005 | Baseball
The SEC regular-season champion University of Florida baseball team learned on Monday morning that it was awarded the seventh national seed for the 2005 NCAA Baseball Tournament that begins on Friday at McKethan Stadium. Making their 23rd Regional appearance by virtue of the program's school-record sixth-consecutive berth, the top-seeded Gators (40-20) will face fourth-seeded Stetson (35-26) at 8 p.m. Second-seeded North Carolina (40-17-1) will meet third-seeded Notre Dame (36-22-1) earlier in the day at 4 p.m. The entire regional will televised live by College Sports Television (CSTV).
The regional continues through Sunday, with a final game to be played Monday, if necessary. The Gainesville Regional winner will face the winner of the Tallahassee Regional in a Super Regional series next weekend. The Super Regional winner advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
"Everyone is very excited about the start of Regionals," said head coach Pat McMahon. "This is why we go through such a challenging regular season, to reach this stage. There are three quality opponents coming to Gainesville this weekend and it should be a great atmosphere for the fans and players alike. Our players understand that every team is now 0-0 and that the goal now is to survive and advance. Having faced Stetson a few weeks ago (May 18), we know they are a talented team and that we will have our work cut out for us."
Florida swept the Oklahoma City Regional last June on its way to its first-ever NCAA Super Regional appearance, where it fell to host Miami (Fla.). UF is 56-46 (.549) all-time in NCAA Tournament action and has reached the CWS four times: 1988, 1991, 1996 and 1998. The Gators are 2-2 against Stetson in NCAA play, most recently splitting a pair of meetings with the Hatters at the 2001 Regional held in Coral Gables, Fla. Florida has not encountered North Carolina in the postseason since 1960 at the NCAA District III Tourney in Gastonia, N.C., a 7-5 win for the Tar Heels. The Orange and Blue has not met the Fighting Irish in NCAAs.
2005 NCAA Gainesville Regional Schedule
Friday, June 3
Game 1: 4 p.m. - No. 2 North Carolina (40-17-1) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (36-22-1)
Game 2: 8 p.m. - No. 1 Florida (40-20) vs. No. 4 Stetson (35-26)
Saturday, June 4
Game 3: 3:30 p.m. - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4: 7:30 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Sunday, June 5
Game 5: 2 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 6: 6 p.m. - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Monday, June 6
Game 7: (if necessary) - 7 p.m. - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
For the fifth-straight year, the Southeastern Conference led all conferences in the number of teams in the NCAA baseball championship field with nine squads, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference with seven and the Big 12 and Pac-10 with five each. This marks the fourth time in the last five seasons the SEC has sent at least eight teams on the "Road to Omaha." The SEC sent an NCAA record-high nine teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2004.
Auburn became the third league team in as many years to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament despite not advancing to the league's annual conference tournament in Hoover, Ala. Florida became the first team from the SEC to accomplish that feat in 2003, followed by Mississippi State a year ago.
Florida, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee will all host opening-round Regionals. Alabama, Arkansas and SEC Tournament Champion Mississippi State and South Carolina were also selected to participate in the 2005 NCAA field. Ole Miss is the national No. 5 seed and Florida is the national No. 7 seed.
Thirty-seven of the 64 teams were in the 2004 field. Three teams made the field for the first time in their history: N.C. A&T, Quinnipiac and Rhode Island. Oregon State, a top-eight national seed, is in the field for the first time since 1986. Furman, the No. 8 seed from the Southern Conference, won the postseason tournament to make the NCAA field for the first time since 1991. Southland Conference foes Northwestern State and Texas-San Antonio are both in the tournament for the first time since 1994.
Miami (Fla.) is in the field for the 33rd consecutive year, extending its own record. Florida State is making its 28th straight appearance, which ranks second all-time. Other long consecutive streaks include Clemson (19), LSU (17), Cal State Fullerton (14) and Stanford (12).
Twenty-nine teams won at least 40 Division I games through May 29, and all but two are in the field. UCF (42 wins) and UNC Wilmington (40) did not make the tournament. Nebraska has a Division I-best 51 wins, while Florida State and Tulane each have 50 victories thus far this season. There are 283 Division I teams sponsoring baseball in 2005.
Each of the 16 NCAA Regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The Regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 3, to Monday, June 6. Selection of the eight Super Regional hosts will be determined and will be announced on Tuesday, June 7, at noon. The best two-of-three Super Regionals will be played from Friday, June 10, to Monday, June 13. The 58th College World Series begins play Friday, June 17, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
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