Nothing Hokie About This NCAA Baseball Regional

They will be strangers here, and are not expected to hang around long enough to get acquainted.

Still, the Virginia Tech Hokies are excited about being the fourth-seeded team in an NCAA Regional at Cal State Fullerton, joining the Titans, USC and Loyola Marymount.

Virginia Tech faces USC at 3 p.m. Friday. Fullerton and Loyola play at 7 p.m. The winning teams and losing teams play each other Saturday.

This won’t be a completely new experience for the Hokies, who qualified for a regional for the third time in four seasons. Virginia Tech faced USC twice in a 1997 regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Hokies won the opener, 3-2, then were eliminated by the Trojans, 6-2, the next day.

“I think they might remember us,” Virginia Tech Coach Chuck Hartman said. “We got a few players left from that team, and I’m sure they do, too.”

Meanwhile, the other teams in the regional are quite familiar with each other. USC won two games from Loyola Marymount and was 2-1 in three games against Fullerton this season. Loyola and Fullerton played once, with the Lions winning, 11-2.

That the regional has two conference champions from Southern California, plus perennial power USC, makes it one of the toughest of the NCAA’s 16 brackets.

“If I had my druthers, we would not be hooked up with local teams,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “I think it’s very fair to say it’s a rugged regional.”

Virginia Tech battled its way into the tournament, enduring a five-hour rain delay before beating Massachusetts, 9-6, in the Atlantic 10 tournament title game. With it, the unranked Hokies won a trip to Southern California.

“In our schedule, we don’t get to go to a lot of places. So I think California sounded real good to all our guys,” junior shortstop Addison Bowman was quoted in the Roanoke Times Monday. “Hey, we’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll. At least we’re flying somewhere, so we don’t have to worry about the bus breaking down on us.”

USC (38-18)

The Trojans, ranked 13th by Baseball America, have won 10 consecutive games. They are one of four Pac-10 teams to be a top-seed in a regional (Stanford, UCLA and Arizona State are the others).

Once again, USC benefited from UC Santa Barbara, which has been almost a Trojan triple-A team in recent years.

Last season, Barry Zito and Justin Lehr, who started their college careers at Santa Barbara, were USC’s top pitchers. This season, third baseman Justin Gemoll, who also transferred from Santa Barbara, is the Trojans’ leader in batting average (.380), home runs (18) and runs batted in (61).

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (39-17)

The 12th-ranked Lions, coached by former USC assistant Frank Cruz, are ranked above USC and 16th-ranked Fullerton by Baseball America. Yet they are the third-seeded team in the regional.

Loyola has won 12 of 14 games, all against WCC teams. They swept a two games from Pepperdine, outscoring the Waves, 25-7, in the conference championship series.

The Lions hit .337 as a team. Pitcher Mike Schultz, a junior, is 9-5 with a 5.51 ERA this season. Billy Traber (9-4, 3.14 ERA) is the Lions’ top pitcher. He has 143 strikeouts in 114 2/3 innings.

And they have four players with 10 or more home runs, led by Scott Walter (19). Second baseman Anthony Angel, who had 13 home runs and drove in a team-high 77 runs, was named the conference co-player of the year.

VIRGINIA TECH (34-23-2)

Bowman’s eighth-inning grand slam gave the Hokies their victory in the conference tournament title game. Bowman is the team leader in batting average (.339), home runs (10) and runs batted in (49).

The Hokies, though, are young. At times, they have five freshmen in the lineup, all up the middle--catcher Jed English, second baseman Marc Tugwell, shortstop Spencer Harris, center fielder Brad Bauder and pitcher Joe Saunders.

Saunders has been the team’s top pitcher but had been out sick for three weeks. He has been cleared to pitch, but Hartman wasn’t sure if Saunders was ready to start a game. Before his illness, Saunders was 9-2 with a 3.64 ERA and pitched 22 consecutive scoreless innings, including two shutouts, during one stretch.

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Titans Host NCAA Regional

The NCAA Regional gets underway Friday at Cal State Fullerton, when host Titans face Loyola and Virginia Tech meets USC. A look at the competition:

CAL STATE FULLERTON

Record: 36-19

Conference and standing: Big West, co-champions

National rank: 16th.

Top hitters: Steve Woodward (.412, 1 HR, 23 RBI 12 SB); David Bacani (.366, 3, 44, 24); Jake Epstein (.331, 9, 46)

Top pitchers: Jon Smith (9-2, 3.18 ERA); Adam Johnson (7-3, 2.53); Kirk Saarloos (6-5, 2.43, 7 saves)

Fast Fact: This is the Titans’ 21st NCAA appearance, but the first time they have hosted a regional

USC

Record: 38-18

Conference and standing: Pac-10, fourth place

National rank: 13th

Top hitters: 3B Justin Gemoll (.380, 18 HR, 61 RBI); INF Anthony Lunetta (.355, 9, 41); C Beau Craig (.284, 16, 56)

Top pitchers: Rik Currier (12-3, 3.26 ERA); Ronald Flores (6-1, 3.27, 2 saves); Mark Prior (8-6, 3.47, 2)

Fast Fact: USC has won 12 national titles, 11 under Rod Dedeaux. Gillespie won his first in 1998

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT

Record: 39-17

Conference and standing: West Coast, Coast Division champion, conference tournament series champion

National rank: 12th

Top hitters: OF/3B Jason Aspito (.374, 10 HR, 52 RBI); C Scott Walter (.365, 19, 70); 2B Anthony Angel (.356, 13, 77)

Top pitchers: Billy Traber (9-4, 2.14 ERA), Ben Bonilla (9-0, 4.55 ERA); Mike Schultz (9-5, 5.51)

Fast Fact: Aspito is a transfer from Texas, where he played for Coach Augie Garrido, former Titans coach who lead Cal State Fullerton to two College World Series titles

VIRGINA TECH

Record: 36-23-2

Conference and standing: Atlantic 10, won west Division and conference tournament

National rank: None

Top hitters: SS Addison Bowman (.339, 10 HR, 49 RBI); OF Brad Bauder (.337, 5, 40); INF Chad Foutz (.317, 3, 25)

Top pitchers: Joe Saunders (9-2, 3.64 ERA); Jason Bush (9-5, 4.43); Anthony Miller (5-2, 5.53, 8 saves)

Fast Fact: Pitcher Bush, the likely starter in the open, threw a no-hitter in a seven-inning game against LaSalle on May 12