After hearing the good news that they would be hosting the Coral Gables Regional as the No. 1 national seed of 64 teams for the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, Miami players and coaches watching the selection show in the clubhouse were thrown an unexpected curveball.
No. 2 seed Missouri (38-19), No. 3 Mississippi (37-24) and No. 4 Bethune-Cookman (36-20) are set to come to town this weekend in a surprise bracket that left some wondering how the top seed didn’t get matched up with the likes of Mt. St. Mary’s (21-32) or Texas Southern (16-32) in its regional instead of lower No. 1 seeds such as North Carolina or LSU.
Miami will take on Bethune-Cookman in the second game Friday at 4 p.m., following the match-up between Missouri and Mississippi. All games will air on ESPNU, with games at both 12 and 4 p.m. through Sunday, and the final game on Monday if necessary.
Both the Hurricanes and Wildcats made it into the tournament as automatic qualifiers as conference champions in the ACC and Mid-Eastern respectively.
The SEC led all conferences with nine teams selected, with the Big 12 and ACC close behind at six apiece, including four No. 1 seeds in Florida State, N.C. State, North Carolina and Miami.
Christina De Nicola may be contacted at c.denicola@umiami.edu.
Ticket Information:
Ticket packages for the entire Coral Gables Regional are $90 for field box, $70 for chairback, $45 for adult general admission and $35 for youth, seniors and students. Single day tickets for each of the first three days of the regional are priced at $25 for field box, $20 for chairback, $15 for adult general admission and $10 for youth, seniors and students. If necessary, tickets for the fourth day of the regional are $20 for field box, $16 for chairback, $10 for adult general admission and $8 for youth, seniors and students. For more information, go to hurricanesports.com or call 1-800-GO-CANES (305-284-CANE in Miami-Dade).