INDIANAPOLIS, IN - All 16 regional sites have been selected for the 58th annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, it was announced today by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records through Saturday, May 29, are as follows: Fayetteville, Arkansas (Arkansas, 39-21); Fullerton, California (California State, Fullerton, 36-20); Kinston, North Carolina (East Carolina, 48-11); Tallahassee, Florida (Florida State, 41-20); Athens, Georgia (Georgia, 38-20); Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Tech, 41-18); Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Louisiana State, 41-17); Coral Gables, Florida (Miami, Fla., 44-11); Oxford, Mississippi (Mississippi, 39-19); South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame, 49-10); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Oklahoma, 37-22); Houston, Texas (Rice, 42-12); Columbia, South Carolina (South Carolina, 44-15); Palo Alto, California (Stanford, 44-11); Austin, Texas (Texas, 50-13); Charlottesville, Virginia (Virginia, 42-13). All regionals are campus sites except East Carolina (Grainger Stadium in Kinston, North Carolina) and Oklahoma (SBC Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City).
By virtue of being awarded a regional, 12 of the host institutions also have been selected as at-large teams to the 64-team field, but some could win automatic berths Sunday in their respective conference tournaments. Cal St. Fullerton, Notre Dame, Rice and Stanford already have clinched automatic berths. Each regional field features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 4, to Sunday, June 6.
Mississippi and Virginia will host a regional for the first time, while eight sites (Cal St. Fullerton, Florida St., Georgia Tech, LSU, Miami, Rice, Stanford, Texas) also hosted in 2003. This will be the 23rd time that Florida St. has hosted a regional, while Miami and Texas are hosting for the 20th time since the NCAA went to the regional format in 1975. LSU is hosting a regional for the 16th time, while Stanford (13th), South Carolina (10th), Georgia Tech (sixth), Cal St. Fullerton (fourth), Notre Dame (fourth), Rice (fourth), Arkansas (second), and Georgia (second) have hosted in the past as well. East Carolina has hosted a regional before, but it was in Wilson, North Carolina. This will be the first regional held in Kinston, North Carolina. This will be the fifth time that Oklahoma has served as host institution, with three of those regionals being held in Oklahoma City.
The remaining at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at 11 a.m. Central time, Monday, May 31, during a live, half-hour program on ESPN2. The committee will set the entire 64-team bracket 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 Sunday, June 6, live on ESPN SportsCenter during the 10 p.m. Central time telecast. A telephonic news conference will follow, at approximately 10:30 p.m. Central time.
Thirty Division I conferences receive an automatic berth in the field of 64, along with 34 at-large selections.
The 58th Men's College World Series begins play Friday, June 18, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
For continuing coverage of the Division I Baseball Championship tournament, visit NCAAsports.com.
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