NCAA Sees the Lights, Awards Stanford the Only NCAA Regional on West Coast

Stanford, which has won 15 consecutive games, was the only West Coast team to receive a regional bid when the eight NCAA baseball sites were announced Monday.

The Southeastern Conference, which has five nationally ranked teams, will have three hosting regionals. Florida (41-14) will host the East tournament, and two South regionals went to Louisiana State (43-13) and Alabama (40-16).

Regional sites were awarded to Texas (36-20) and Texas Tech (44-11) of the Southwest Conference. Texas Tech, located in Lubbock, will host for the first time. Wichita State, which has the nation’s best record at 47-7, will host the Midwest regional, and Clemson (43-13) the Atlantic regional, each for the third consecutive year.

Ron Maestri, the chairman of the Division I baseball committee, made no apologies for only one site in the West.

“We know there is tremendous baseball being played in the West,” he said. “The West has a rich tradition, and nobody wants to slight that . . . But in other parts of the country there are tremendous commitments being made to college baseball.”

Stanford (38-17) added lights to its field for this season, enhancing its chances to host a regional for the first time since 1990.

Only three of the 18 bids came from West schools; Fresno State and Arizona State also bid.

Coach Augie Garrido hopes Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Field at some point can be upgraded to make it a potential regional site, but the seating capacity of about 2,000 and its press box facilities are not up to NCAA tournament standards.

The eight host teams are assured of an at-large berth, although several might win automatic bids in conference tournaments this weekend. There are 24 automatics bids, 18 going to conference champions. The other six go to winners of three-game series between teams from conferences with a lower power rating.

The other 24 teams in the field are at-large choices of the selection committee. Tournament pairings will be announced Monday.

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Cal State Fullerton (42-12), which has lost eight of its last 12 games, is ranked 11th by Baseball America and 15th by Collegiate Baseball in this week’s polls.

Long Beach State (34-24), the Big West regular season champion, is ranked 23rd by Baseball America and 25th by Collegiate Baseball. Nevada Las Vegas (43-15) moved up 18th in Baseball America and 19th in Collegiate Baseball after winning the Big West postseason tournament last weekend.

Both polls agree this week on Wichita State (47-7) being the No. 1 team. USC is ranked second in one poll and third in the other. Miami, which hosts Fullerton in a regular-season three-game series beginning Thursday, is fifth and sixth.