Pairings Put Strength in the West

USC got the NCAA baseball regional it hoped for by winning the Pacific 10 Conference. Cal State Northridge is happy not to have to pull out its luggage, but West Coast teams don’t like the thought of being lumped in the same regionals.

Geography determined the seedings and regional pairings when the 64-team NCAA tournament was announced Monday. Because of an NCAA mandate handed down after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Division I baseball committee was told to keep as many teams as possible from having to fly.

Three of the 16 four-team regional sites are in the Western time zone. USC’s Dedeaux Field is one of them and the Trojans (34-22) are seeded No. 1 with Northridge, the Big West champion, No. 2. Maine (40-15) and Brigham Young (29-29-1) are the other teams coming to Los Angeles.

Northridge Coach Mike Batesole, who is among those being considered for the Fresno State job, said he didn’t think his team was slighted when it didn’t get a No. 1 seeding and was sent to another regional. Because of an antiquated facility, the Matadors (40-15) did not put in a bid to be a host.

“We do this three or four years in a row and maybe we’ll earn the respect of being a No. 1 seed,” Batesole said.

While Gillespie had no complaints about his regional pairing, he was among many that questioned the selection committee’s choice to put Big West rivals Long Beach State (37-19) and Cal State Fullerton (36-20) in a power-packed regional at Stanford. The Cardinal finished second in the Pac-10, and the other team, San Jose State, has won a school-record 45 games.

Fullerton Coach George Horton believed his team was in danger of not getting in after being swept at Long Beach last weekend to finish fourth in the Big West. “We didn’t handle ourselves at all at the end,” Horton said. “We only had ourselves to blame. But I believe that we deserved to be in the top 64.”

Florida State earned the No. 1 national seeding. The Southeastern Conference had seven teams selected, followed by the Big 12, Conference USA and the ACC with five and the Pac-10 with four.