NCAA BASEBALL : Five Southland Teams Are Among 48 to Make Playoffs

Cal State Long Beach, Pepperdine, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and UCLA are among 48 teams that gained berths Monday in the NCAA Division I baseball playoffs.

Stanford, Arizona, Miami, Texas, Florida, Clemson, Wichita State and Louisiana State were awarded No. 1 seedings in the six-team double-elimination regional tournaments that will begin Thursday and Friday. Winners will advance to the College World Series May 29-June 6 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

The NCAA baseball committee selected 24 automatic qualifiers and 24 at-large teams. The Pacific 10 Southern Division and the Southeastern Conference have five representatives each. The Atlantic Coast Conference has four and the Big West Conference three.

Long Beach (34-19-1), the Big West champion, is attempting to reach the World Series for the third time in four seasons under Coach Dave Snow. The 49ers are seeded No. 2 in the Central Regional at Austin, Tex., and will play Southwestern Louisiana (38-21) in their opener Friday. Texas (42-14) will play Virginia Commonwealth (31-20) and Creighton (40-17-1) will play Texas Arlington (38-13) in other first-round games.

Pepperdine (40-10-1), champion of the West Coast Conference, is seeded third in the West Regional at Tucson. The Waves, who made their only World Series appearance in 1979, will play Fresno State (37-18) Friday. In other first-round games, Arizona (34-21-1) will play Washington (37-19) and Hawaii (45-12) will play Southeastern Louisiana (37-20).

Fullerton (38-15) is seeded third in the South I Regional at Baton Rouge, La. The Titans, NCAA champions in 1979 and 1984, will play Ohio State (38-19) Thursday. Defending national champion LSU (48-14) will play Providence (28-21) and South Alabama (44-14) will play Tulane (38-22).

Northridge (37-14-1), an independent, is seeded No. 3 in the Midwest Regional at Wichita, Kan. The Matadors, who fell one out short of advancing to the World Series last season, will play Arizona State (32-22) Friday. In other first-round games, Wichita State (52-9) will play George Washington (26-24) and Oklahoma State (46-14) will play Minnesota (40-19).

UCLA (34-24), which finished in a three-way tie for third in the Pac-10, is seeded fourth in the Mideast Regional at Starkville, Miss. The Bruins will play Oklahoma (38-21) Thursday. Clemson (49-12) will play Yale (25-8) and Mississippi State (38-2) will play Nicholls State (36-16).

Stanford (37-21) will play Stetson (38-19) Thursday in a South II Regional at Tallahassee, Fla. Cal (34-24), seeded fourth in the East Regional at Gainesville, Fla., will open Thursday against Texas A&M; (38-18).