The Big West Conference advanced two teams to the 2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament, as announced by the Division I Baseball Committee today. Joining the 64-team field is Big West Champion and NCAA Regional host Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine.
The Titans are making their 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, 32nd overall, and the Anteaters earned their fifth straight bid, sixth overall. Cal State Fullerton owns the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Miami (38 years) and Florida State (33 years).
Cal State Fullerton concluded the regular season back on top of the Big West Conference, winning its eighth conference title in 12 years with a near perfect 21-3 record and earning the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The Titans, who own an impressive 26-6 record when playing in front of their home crowd during regional competition, are set to entertain Pac-10 at-large selection Stanford (31-23), Mountain West at-large pick New Mexico (37-20) and Big Ten regular season and tournament champion Minnesota (30-28).
The Titans and the Cardinal have a rich history with Stanford leading the all-time series with a 53-41 mark. The last time the two teams met on the diamond was in 2009 with Cal State Fullerton sweeping Stanford early in the season. Cal State Fullerton and New Mexico look to reignite a series that has been idle since the 1986 season and has the Titans owning a 6-2 advantage. The Titans lead the series with the Golden Gophers by a mark of 5-4 and have won the last three meetings between the two teams, including two NCAA Regional contests.
No. 2 Stanford will meet No. 3 New Mexico in the regional's first game on June 4 at 4:00 p.m. The nightcap will see No. 4 Minnesota take on No. 1 Cal State Fullerton at 8:00 p.m. The winner of the Fullerton Regional, which will be televised live on the ESPNU, will battle the winner of the Los Angeles Regional which features host UCLA, LSU, UC Irvine and Kent State.
A year removed from hosting their first NCAA Regional, the UC Irvine Anteaters are back in tournament play but this time are traveling to Los Angeles to kickoff the postseason. The Anteaters (37-19) drew the third seed in the Los Angeles Regional hosted by Pac-10 Champion UCLA (43-13) and will be joined by defending National Champion and SEC Tournament Champion LSU (40-20) and MAC Tournament Champion Kent State (39-23). This marks the second straight year UC Irvine will have to battle through a Regional that includes the defending national champion.
LSU hosted UC Irvine for the 2008 Super Regionals and was victorious in the lone matchup between the two teams with a 2-1 record. The Bruins and Anteaters split a two-game series earlier this year, with each team winning their respective home contest. UCLA maintains a 42-24-1 advantage in the all-time series with UC Irvine. The Anteaters have never faced the Golden Flashes of Kent State.
No. 3 UC Irvine opens the NCAA Regional with No. 2-seeded and defending National Champion LSU, while UCLA takes on No. 4-seed Kent State in the second game of the doubleheader. Game times for the Los Angeles Regional are slated for 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Each of the 16 regionals feature four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 4, to Monday, June 7 (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.ncaasports.com, Monday, June 7 at approximately 8 p.m. (PDT).
Thirty Division I conferences receive an automatic berth in the field of 64, along with 34 at-large selections. The 64th Mens College World Series begins play Saturday, June 19 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.