ECU Earns Top Seed In Greenville Regional
May 25, 2009 | Baseball
May 25, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina baseball team will make its 24th NCAA Regional appearance and 10th in the last 11 years after earning a No. 1 seed at the Greenville Regional in this year's NCAA Baseball Championships.
Monday afternoon's selection marks the fifth time in school history the Pirates garnered the top seed in a regional (1999 - Baton Rouge, La., 2000 - Lafayette, La., 2001 - Wilson, N.C. and 2004 - Kinston, N.C.).
The Pirates (42-17), who will play their first ever post-season game at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium, will square off against No. 4 Binghamton (29-20) in the first round of the regional on Friday, May 29 at 7 p.m. (EDT) while No. 2 South Carolina (38-21) will face No. 3 George Mason (42-12) at 3 p.m.
ECU's opening round matchup with Binghamton will be the first ever meeting between the two schools, while the Pirates own a 43-30 overall record against George Mason and are 4-15 versus South Carolina.
Of the 64 teams that were announced Monday, the Pirates own an 11-8 overall record in 2009 against eight institutions: Elon (2-1), Georgia Southern (0-1), Indiana (1-0), Monmouth (3-0) North Carolina (1-1), Oklahoma State (1-1), Rice (1-2) and Southern Miss (2-2).
The national top eight seeds are Texas (41-13-1), Cal State Fullerton (42-14), LSU (46-16), North Carolina (42-16), Arizona St. (44-12), UC Irvine (43-13), Oklahoma (41-18) and Florida (39-20).
The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference lead all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with eight, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference with seven. The Big Ten, Big West, Conference USA and Pacific-10 each have three teams each.
Twenty-nine of the 64 teams were not in the field last year. Binghamton (AQ), Cal Poly (at-large), Georgia St. (AQ), Kansas State (at-large) and Xavier (AQ), all are making the championship for the first time. Utah last was in the field in 1960, Boston College last made it in 1967.
Miami (FL) is in the field for the 37th consecutive year, extending its own record. Florida State is making its 32nd straight appearance, second all-time. Other long consecutive streaks: Cal State Fullerton (18), Rice (15) and Oral Roberts (12).
Of the 288 championship eligible Division I institutions that sponsor baseball, Coastal Carolina and LSU have the most Division I wins with 46. Twenty-five other teams won at least 40 Division I contests, and all of which but New Mexico St. and San Jose St., are in the field.
Each of the 16 regionals feature four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 29, to Monday, June 1 (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on NCAA.com, Monday, June 1 at approximately 11 p.m. (EDT).
The 63rd Men's College World Series begins play Saturday, June 13, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
2009 NCAA GREENVILLE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 29
Game 1: (3) George Mason vs. (2) South Carolina (3 p.m.)
Game 2: (4) Binghamton vs. (1) East Carolina (7 p.m.)
Saturday, May 30
Game 3: 2 p.m.
Game 4: 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 31
Game 5: 2 p.m.
Game 6: 6 p.m.
Monday, June 1
Game 7: If Necessary (6 p.m.)
