NCAA Announces 2009 NCAA Regional Host Sites

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced the 16 regional sites for the 63^rd annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.

The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records are as follows: Arizona State (43-12 through Saturday, May 23), Tempe, Ariz.; UC Irvine (42-13 through Saturday, May 23), Irvine, Calif.; Cal State Fullerton (41-14 through Saturday, May 23), Fullerton, Calif.; Clemson (40-19), Clemson, S.C.; East Carolina (42-17), Greenville, N.C.; Florida (39-20), Gainesville, Fla.; Florida St. (42-15 through Saturday, May 23), Tallahassee, Fla.; Georgia Tech (35-17-1), Atlanta; LSU (45-16 through Saturday, May 23), Baton Rouge, La.; Louisville (44-15), Louisville, Ky.; Mississippi (40-17), Oxford, Miss.; North Carolina (42-16), Chapel Hill, N.C.; Oklahoma (41-18), Norman, Okla.; Rice (39-15), Houston; Texas (40-13-1 through Saturday, May 23), Austin, Texas; TCU (36-16), Fort Worth, Texas.

By virtue of being awarded a regional, all 16 host institutions have also been selected to the 64-team field. Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, East Carolina, Florida, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and TCU have made the field as at-large selections.

Arizona State (Pacific-10), UC Irvine (Big West), Florida St. (Atlantic Coast), Louisville (Big East) and Rice (Conference USA) have clinched automatic berths by virtue of winning their conference tournament championships. Florida State will be either the automatic qualifier from the Atlantic Coast Conference with a win in the conference championship or as an at-large qualifier. LSU and Texas are in the same situation as they will be the automatic selection for the Southeastern and Big 12 Conferences respectively, or an at-large qualifier depending on the outcome of the Southeastern and Big 12 Conference championships this afternoon.

Each regional field features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 29, to Monday, June 1.

Florida State is hosting for record 28^th time, while this will be the 19^th time that Arizona State and LSU have hosted a regional. Clemson (12^th) is the only other institution to host 10 or more times since the NCAA went to the regional format in 1975.

Georgia Tech is hosting for the ninth time, while Cal St. Fullerton, Florida and Rice are hosting a regional for the eighth time. Mississippi and North Carolina are hosting for the fifth time.

Oklahoma is the host for the fourth time and East Carolina for the third time. Hosting for the first time are UC Irvine, Louisville and TCU. Six institutions (Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Florida State, LSU, North Carolina and Rice) also hosted in 2008.

The remaining at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional

pairings and site assignments will be announced at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, May 25, during a live, half-hour program on ESPN. The committee will set the entire 64-team bracket through both the super regionals and the first round of the Men’s College World Series, and will not reseed the field after play begins.