NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL AT A GLANCE

A capsule look at the six teams competing in the Central Regional of the NCAA baseball championships, at Austin, Texas:

Texas

Record: 48-15

Coach: Cliff Gustafson, 23rd year

Conference finish: Second in the Southwest

How got here: Automatic berth for winning the conference tournament

Ranking: Fifth in the Collegiate Baseball-ESPN poll, seventh in Baseball America poll

Comments: The Longhorns, who play Texas Arlington today at 5 p.m. PDT, have an outstanding pitching staff that has a team earned-run average of 2.95. Their ace is junior right-hander Kirk Dressendorfer, who is 12-3 with 148 strikeouts and just 31 walks in 120 innings, despite suffering tendinitis in his shoulder. Their No. 2 pitcher is junior left-hander Brian Dare, who is 7-2 with a 2.85 ERA and 78 strikeouts. Texas, which won 16 consecutive games from March 19 to April 13, is led offensively by sophomore third baseman Clay King (.357, 17 doubles, 43 RBIs), junior second baseman David Tollison (.355, 12 home runs, 20 doubles, 66 RBIs), senior center fielder Lance Jones (.352, 13 doubles, seven triples, 49 RBIs) and freshman first baseman Scott Pugh (.342, six home runs, 15 doubles, 30 RBIs). The Longhorns will make their 36th playoff appearance, an NCAA record. They have played in the College World Series a record 25 times, winning four national championships.

Clemson

Record: 42-21

Coach: Bill Wilhelm, 33rd year

Conference finish: Second in the Atlantic Coast

How got here: At-large berth

Ranking: 23rd by Collegiate Baseball-ESPN

Comments: The Tigers, who play Creighton today at 11 a.m., have been a streaky team. They opened with a 19-2 record but have gone 23-19 since March 22 and have lost five of their last six games. They have a .305 team batting average but have hit .266 in the last 12 games. Clemson’s best player is junior outfielder Brian Kowitz, who is batting .402 with 21 doubles, five triples and 59 RBIs. Kowitz, the leadoff batter who had a 37-game hitting streak at one point this season, doesn’t have blazing speed but has stolen 32 bases in 40 attempts. He has made one error in three seasons. Sophomore designated hitter Joe DeBerry, the son of Air Force Academy football Coach Fisher DeBerry, is batting .378 with 15 home runs and 68 RBIs, and junior first baseman Eric Macrina is hitting .339 with 16 homers and 62 RBIs. Clemson doesn’t have much pitching depth, but the Tigers do have one solid starter in junior right-hander Tim Parker, who is 7-4 with a 2.54 ERA and 89 strikeouts.

Cal State Fullerton

Record: 32-21

Coach: Larry Cochell, third year

Conference finish: First in the Big West

How got here: Automatic berth for winning the conference

Ranking: 17th by Collegiate Baseball-ESPN, 21st by Baseball America

Comments: The Titans’ 6 p.m. game against Old Dominion tonight will mark their 13th playoff appearance in 16 years. But for the first two months of the season, it didn’t appear Fullerton would challenge for a playoff berth. The Titans struggled offensively, received sporadic pitching performances and played .500 ball throughout February and March. But they got hot as conference play started and have been on a roll ever since, winning 14 of their last 19 games. Fullerton has three solid starting pitchers in right-handers James Popoff (10-4, 3.66 ERA) and Sam Colarusso (6-3, 3.30 ERA) and lefty Huck Flener (7-1, 3.78 ERA), but much of their success could depend on reliever Chris Robinson. Third baseman Phil Nevin, the leadoff hitter who is batting .353 with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs, has keyed the offensive surge, and the Titans have two consistent hitters behind him in second baseman Mate Borgogno (.379, 15 doubles, 53 RBIs) and left fielder Rich Gonzales (.382, 37 RBIs).

Old Dominion

Record: 40-17

Coach: Pat McMahon, first year

Conference finish: Second in the Sun Belt

How got here: At-large berth

Ranking: Unranked

Comments: McMahon, a former Mississippi State assistant who replaced Mark Newman as coach last August, has had success using many of the players from last season’s 26-26 team. But part of the Monarchs’ resurgence can be attributed to a newcomer, freshman pitcher Steve Lyons from West Springfield, Va. The right-hander went 10-2 with a 3.18 ERA during the regular season, striking out 54 and walking 35 in 99 innings. Old Dominion’s two other top starters are sophomore right-hander Jeff Ware (9-2, 3.52 ERA, 72 strikeouts) and junior lefty George Sells (4-3, 3.74 ERA.) Sells plays the outfield when he isn’t pitching and is one of the Monarchs’ top hitters with a .353 average, nine home runs and 35 RBIs. Other top offensive players are outfielder Scott Thomson (.401, five homers, eight triples, 17 doubles, 38 RBIs), third baseman Ty Hawkins (.333, 24 RBIs) and catcher Scott Hafling (.325, 23 RBIs).

Creighton

Record: 46-20

Coach: Jim Hendry, sixth year

Conference finish: Third in the Missouri Valley

How got here: At-large berth

Ranking: 24th by Baseball America

Comments: The Bluejays, who finished behind NCAA participants Wichita State and Southern Illinois in their conference, set a school record for victories and will be making their first playoff appearance in 18 years. They have one of the nation’s top pitchers in junior left-hander Dan Smith, who is 13-3 with a 1.71 ERA. Smith, who led Team U.S.A. in seven statistical categories last summer, set school records for complete games (11), shutouts (five), strikeouts (126) and fewest earned runs allowed by a starter (21). Creighton’s No. 2 pitcher is right-hander Mike Heathcott, who is 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA. Offensively, the Bluejays are led by sophomore first baseman Scott Stahoviak, who is batting .406 and leads the team with 86 hits, 61 runs and 24 doubles. He has 45 RBIs and has struck out only 27 times in 212 at-bats. Third baseman Pat Mooney leads the team in home runs with nine but hasn’t hit one since April 24.

Texas Arlington

Record: 31-28

Coach: Butch McBroom, 17th year

Conference finish: First in the Southland

How got here: Automatic berth for winning the conference

Ranking: Unranked

Comments: McBroom has won more than 500 games in 19 years as a head coach, but this will be his first trip to the NCAA tournament. The Mavericks were 9-17 in mid-March but have gone 22-11 in the second half of the season. They swept a doubleheader from Sam Houston State on the final day of conference play to win their first-ever Southland championship. Mirroring the team’s turnaround has been sophomore shortstop Lawrence Hanlon, who started the season with a 1-for-37 slump but hit .500 (22 for 44) in conference games. Outfielder Tony Vilaros leads the team in hitting with a .323 average, five home runs and 33 RBIs, but the Mavericks, with a .253 team batting average, don’t have much offensive punch. Their top pitcher is junior right-hander Lee Jones, a transfer from Louisiana Tech who has an 8-4 record and a 3.16 ERA. Texas Arlington has a solid reliever in sophomore right-hander Gary Paul, who has appeared in 26 games and has a 2-2 record, 2.41 ERA and five saves.