Fullerton Takes Favorite’s Role

Cal State Fullerton is regarded as the team to beat in the NCAA baseball playoffs based on the 64-team bracket announced Monday by the Division I baseball committee.

Fullerton (41-15), which has won three College World Series titles, is seeded No. 1 nationally in the tournament that begins Friday with 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals. Winners of the regionals advance to best-of-three super regionals June 1-3. Super regional winners will play in the College World Series June 8-16 at Omaha.

USC (39-17), the Pacific 10 Conference champion, is seeded third nationally and, like Fullerton, will host a regional. The other nationally seeded teams are No. 2 Miami (44-12), No. 4 Stanford (42-14), No. 5 Tulane (50-15), No. 6 Georgia (41-18), No. 7 East Carolina (44-11) and No. 8 Nebraska (45-14).

A record eight teams from the Southeastern Conference were selected. Five teams from the Big 12 and four from the Pac-10 and Atlantic Coast conferences also were chosen.

Pepperdine (41-16), champion of the West Coast Conference, received one of 30 automatic berths. Long Beach State (35-21) and UC Santa Barbara (39-15), which finished behind Fullerton in the Big West Conference, received at-large berths.

Cal State Northridge (34-22) placed fourth in the Big West--which was ranked among the top five conferences--but the Matadors did not receive an at-large berth.

USC opens against Oral Roberts (48-15) in a regional that also includes Pepperdine and Fresno State (39-23).

“It’s probably one of the strongest in the country,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said.

Pepperdine, which split two games with USC and won two of three at Tulane, was among 18 teams considered for No. 1 seedings, said Wally Groff, chairman of the selection committee. That status, however, was not enough to persuade the committee to send the Waves out of Southern California, he said.

Pepperdine Coach Frank Sanchez said he was not surprised.

“They can send us to the Arctic Circle,” Sanchez said. “We still have to play well to win a regional.”

Fullerton opens the tournament against Temple (27-29) in a regional that also includes Arizona State (36-18-1) and Texas Tech (40-18-1). It is a field that lacks local flavor, but after hosting USC, Loyola Marymount and Virginia Tech in last year’s playoffs, that suits Fullerton Coach George Horton.

“It’s a fresher look than last year,” Horton said. “It’s not going to be an easy task, but it’s like traveling for the first round of regionals without having to travel.”

Long Beach opens against Texas (34-24)--and former Fullerton coach Augie Garrido--in a regional at Stanford. Marist (32-19-1) is also in the regional.

Long Beach lost to USC and won one of three games against Fullerton last week.

“We don’t really have momentum, but we have experience,” Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said. “Playing USC and Fullerton in our last four games, we almost went through a regional type of experience.”

Other than Fullerton, Santa Barbara might have fared best among Southland teams. The Gauchos are seeded second in a regional at South Bend, Ind., and will open against Florida International (40-18). Notre Dame (46-11-1) is the top-seeded team in the regional and will play Wisconsin Milwaukee (39-16).

Santa Barbara Coach Bob Brontsema is not complaining about leaving a state that has three of the top four No. 1-seeded teams.

“I think that gives us an edge,” Brontsema said. “You go back to a place that doesn’t know anything about you.”

California (33-23) is seeded third in a regional at Baton Rouge, La., and will open against Virginia Commonwealth (38-17). Top-seeded Louisiana State (40-19-1), the defending NCAA champion, plays Minnesota (39-19).

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NCAA Baseball Tournament

Friday’s opening regional games for Southern California schools.

All times PDT:

At USC

Oral Roberts (48-11) vs. USC (39-17), 3 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Pepperdine (41-16) vs. Fresno State (39-23), 3 p.m. or 7 p.m.

At Cal State Fullerton

Temple (27-29) vs. Cal State Fullerton (41-15), 7 p.m.

At Stanford

Long Beach State (35-21) vs. Texas (34-24), TBA

At Notre Dame

UC Santa Barbara (39-15) vs. Florida International (40-18), 5:30 p.m.

After the opening games . . .

The format for the 16 four-team regionals is double elimination, with other games on Saturday and Sunday. Super Regionals (eight sites, best-of-three format) are June 1-3. College World Series (eight teams, double elimination) is June 8-16 at Omaha, Neb.

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