Titans Could Be Headed to Fresno for Regional

Fresno State was chosen over Long Beach State, Stanford and Arizona State to play host to the West Coast tournament, one of eight NCAA regional baseball playoff sites announced Monday.

That might be where top-ranked Cal State Fullerton (49-9) begins its bid for a third national championship.

Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido listened to the official announcement in his office, then quickly speculated that Fresno could be a logical place for the Titans, based on the other sites.

The other host schools are Clemson, Florida State, Louisiana State, Miami, Wichita State, Tennessee and Oklahoma (but that regional will be played in Oklahoma City, not on campus in Norman).

The brackets and pairings for the 48-team field will be announced Monday. Regional play begins May 25, with the eight winners advancing to the College World Series beginning June 2.

Long Beach State “made a good, competitive bid,” according to Ron Maestri, the chairman of the selection committee and University of New Orleans athletic director. “They’ve done a great job, and we hope in future years they’ll be right there.”

But Fresno’s bid was the best financially in the West, Maestri said. Long Beach State’s chances might have improved with more success on the field this season.

Long Beach finished second to Fullerton in the Big West regular-season race and the inaugural postseason tournament that decided the automatic berth this past weekend.

Long Beach State, ranked 20th, remains a strong possibility for one of the at-large bids. Long Beach (34-21-1) closes its regular season with a three-game series against ninth-ranked Miami beginning Thursday at Blair Field in Long Beach.

“We’re disappointed but not surprised about the committee’s decision,” said Long Beach State assistant athletic director Bill Shumard, who helped prepare the 49ers’ bid. Shumard declined to provide details, but a source said it was $95,000, with $75,000 assured for the NCAA. The minimum bid required by the NCAA this year was $50,000.

“There were very few sites selected that didn’t have potential No. 1 seeds as the host school,” Shumard said.

Of the eight schools that will play host to regionals, only LSU (42-14) and Fresno State (39-20) are not regarded candidates for top seedings. That would give the NCAA committee the opportunity to place at least two of its eight seeded teams that are non-hosts at those sites.

That’s the main reason Garrido speculated on Fresno as a possible assignment for the Titans, although he also regards traveling to LSU as a possibility along with 11th-ranked Tennessee (43-13).

Fullerton is one of three potential No. 1-seeded teams not playing host to a tournament; the others are second-ranked Auburn (46-9) and third-ranked USC (38-18). But only four automatic bids have been decided, and the picture could change considerably after several conference tournaments later this week.