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Passion Buckets Full Of Baseball And Final Four

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

April is here, and my Passion Bucket is overflowing.  For those who’ve never heard of a Passion Bucket, it’s a term that was coined by UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and made popular on the Dan Patrick Radio Show.  It’s also a term that was used by Cornell basketball player Ryan Wittman prior to last week’s Sweet 16 basketball match-up with Kentucky.

Wittman’s use of the term stirred-up some unwarranted controversy when John Feinstein took it to mean “we’re the smart kids”.   Turned out Wittman’s coach, Steve Donohue,  had just told him to drop the “Passion Bucket” during the presser at Patrick’s request.  Turns out Passion Bucket just stands for how much enthusiasm or excitement you have for something, and mine is overflowing with thoughts of college baseball and the Final Four…and even how they run together…

Brad Stevens

Butler’s in the Final Four.  How cool is that?  Their home floor, Hinkle Fieldhouse, is where the movie Hoosiers was filmed.  The college baseball equal would be Creighton making it to the College World Series.  Wait…that happened in 1991.  Butler’s coach, Brad Stevens, is home grown, just like Brian O’Connor, who pitched at the Series for the Blue Jays in ’91 and who took Virginia to Omaha last year.  Stevens looks so young he gets mistaken for the water boy, but he’s worked his way up the ladder since starting as Butler’s Coordinator of Basketball Operations ten years ago.  By the way, Minnesota Twins reliever Pat Neshek played college ball at Butler.

Tom Izzo is a guy you just have to respect.  He’s taken Michigan State to six Final Fours in 12 years.  His teams grind out possessions and games like a Polish lady with big forearms grinds out Kielbasa.  It got me thinking…what’s Michigan State’s college baseball counterpart?  I’m going with Texas:  Walk, sac bunt, infield hit, 4-3 RBI…Augie Garrido’s great pitching and small ball approach is college baseball’s answer to Izzo’s Spartans.  Augie’s obviously had some success at it too.  And how about Jake Boss, Jr.’s MSU baseball team?  At 16-4,  his Spartans open Big Ten play vs. Iowa this weekend with the best record in the conference.

Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns (18-7) leave their home state for the first time this season when they visit Oklahoma this weekend.  Texas has played road games at Rice and Texas Tech with three neutral site games at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Arizona State (23-0) and UCLA (21-0) are the only two remaining unbeaten Division One teams in college baseball.

Merrill Kelly

The Sun Devils visit Oregon this weekend in their second Pac 10 series, while UCLA hosts Stanford in it conference opener.  The most amazing thing to me about ASU’s unblemished record is the fact they’ve done it without Josh Spence (10-1, 2.37 ERA in ’09) throwing one pitch so far this year.  The Aussie has been out all year with an arm injury, but his teammates have more than picked-up the slack.  Sophomore Jake Borup pitched all of 8.0 innings last year, but he’s 5-0, while juco transfer Merrill Kelly is tied for the national lead at 6-0.  Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole (6-0, 2.63 ERA) and Trevor Bauer (5-0, 2.33 ERA) have lived-up to their expectations at UCLA.  Both teams have off the charts talent and numbers in the line-up.  Too bad they don’t meet until the end of the month.  Oh, if you want to read a good rant on these teams and the national rankings check out what Chase Titleman has to say at Road2rosenblatt.com!

Who’s been impersonating as the three Conference USA teams that went to at least a Super Regional last year?  Last year’s CWS Cinderella, Southern Mississippi (14-9) , has lost five of its last seven games, including losing two of three last week to UAB.  East Carolina (17-9) just bludgeoned North Carolina Central by a combined 65-12 last weekend, but they just lost a 15-13 slug fest to UNC Wilmington and had losses to Monmouth and High Point.  ECU opens C-USA play this weekend vs. Tulane and then heads to Memphis next week.  Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers took two of three from Rice (14-12) last week for their first ever series win over the Owls, which are falling out of the polls with losses in five of their last eight games.  All three C-USA teams have played tough opponents, all three have hit in spots and consistent pitching has eluded all three as well.

Joe Godri

Villanova (17-4) is off to its best start since head coach Joe Godri arrived in 2002.  The Wildcats have a tough task ahead of them this weekend if they want to keep it going.  Godri’s ‘Cats will be “big game hunting” when they travel to Louisville (21-3) for their second Big East series of the season.  Godri has a tradition of plastering the logo of top-caliber teams his team has beaten on his office wall, and just one win at Louisville this weekend would go a long way.  Wildcats Justin Bencsko (.485) and Matt Szczur (.500) have names that are hard to pronounce, but they’re among the nation’s hitting leaders.  Louisville’s Thomas Royse (5-0, 1.42 ERA) and Neil Holland (4-0, 0.42 ERA, 6 SVs) might be the best pitchers they’ll face this season.

That series and many others start on Thursday this weekend due to Easter coming this Sunday.  Here’s hoping your Easter Baskets and Passion Buckets are full!

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Seawolves To Play Three NCAA Tournament Teams

Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk

Complete 2010 Stony Brook Schedule

The Seawolves will then head to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a three-game series with the University of Alabama, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament a season ago. Following the series at Alabama, who was ranked in the top-25 much of last season, the Seawolves will take on Big East foe Seton Hall before returning to University Field for its home opener on March 17 against Iona.

SBU then returns to the road for the Seton Hall Strike Out Cancer Tournament before heading to California from March 26-31 for a six-game trip which will include tilts against Pepperdine, San Diego State and Cal State Bakersfield. San Diego State advanced to the NCAA Regional in 2009.

Following a four-game series at LeMoyne after the California trip, the Seawolves will begin America East Conference play. The conference schedule will incorporate a new six-team format with two divisions. Stony Brook will play a pair of three-game series’ against the two teams in their division (Binghamton and UMBC) and will play one four-game series against each of the other three teams (Hartford, Albany and Maine).

The Seawolves open conference play at defending America East champion Binghamton (April 10-11) before hosting UMBC the next weekend (April 17-18) at University Field. SBU will then play consecutive road series’ against Albany (April 24-25), Maine (May 1-2) and UMBC (May 8-9).

Stony Brook concludes the regular season with home series against Hartford (May 15-16) and Binghamton (May 21-22). The four teams with the best overall win percentage (in either division) will advance to the America East Championship, played May 26-28 at the highest seed.

Stony Brook returns 13 letter-winners from a season ago including all-conference selections- senior first baseman Robert Dyer (Selden, N.Y.), junior infielder Chad Marshall (Paris Ontario), sophomore right hander Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) and sophomore right hander Nick Tropeano (West Islip, N.Y.).

(Release)

Non-Conference Games Vs. ECU And NC State Highlight Slate

Campbell Head Coach Greg Goff

these teams having won a combined 516 contests during the 2009 season.

Complete 2010 Campbell Schedule (PDF)

“We have put together another demanding, but exciting schedule for the 2010 season highlighted with in-state opponents NC State, East Carolina, and UNC-Wilmington,” head coach Greg Goff said. “Our goal with this schedule was to build on the momentum of our record-setting home attendance from last season, and being able to have 33 home games was definitely a bonus. This allows our fans a good opportunity to come out and have a great time watching our team compete against some first-rate opponents.”

Asheville and NC State highlight first week

Campbell opens the 2010 slate at home against UNC Asheville with a single contest on February 19th followed by a doubleheader on February 20th. The Bulldogs, under new head coach Tom Smith, are looking to be provide a tough challenge for the first weekend of the season. After the home weekend against UNC Asheville, the Fighting Camels hit the road for the short trip to Raleigh to face off against in-state ACC foe, North Carolina State.

Last season Campbell swept the home and home two-game series with the Wolfpack, marking the first time in school history they were able to accomplish that feat.  The Fighting Camels will finish the month of February with a home and home matchup against North Carolina A&T. The first contest will take place in Greensboro on February 26th and the doubleheader at Taylor Field to follow on the 27th.

Nine game home stretch kicks off March for Fighting Camels

The month of March starts off with a two-week home stand for Coach Goff’s squad, as they square off against Xavier University, UNC Wilmington, Savannah State, and LaSalle University. Campbell will start off the month facing the defending Atlantic 10 champion and 2009 NCAA Regional participant Xavier University on March 2, followed by a contest against in-state rival and 2008 NCAA Regional Participant UNC Wilmington on the 3rd.

The Fighting Camels will be renewing one of their long standing rivalries with the Seahawks, having split their last home and home series in 2008, with UNC Wilmington taking the contest at Taylor Field 6-4, and Campbell knocking off the #22-ranked Seahawks 8-6 in Wilmington.

The 9-game home stand will conclude with a three-game weekend series against Savannah State, and a mid-week clash with the LaSalle Explorers on March 9 and 10.  Campbell has won 3 of the last 4 games against these two teams, including a two game sweep of Savannah State last year, and a two game split against the Explorers in 2006.

Mercer to start off 2010 Atlantic Sun slate

Campbell will head on the road to Macon, Ga. for the first conference series of the young 2010 season against the Mercer Bears. Last year the series against Mercer was cancelled due to four days set of heavy rain in Buies Creek. In 2008, Campbell also opened conference play with the Bears, winning game one and then dropping the following two.  But, the Fighting Camels got even that year by eliminating Mercer from the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament with an 11-3 victory in Deland.

The series between the Fighting Camels and Mercer has always been competitive as the series split is 27-26 in favor of Campbell. The Bears finished the 2009 slate with a 23-23 record and will be bringing back a load of talent from that squad and promises to be a frontrunner in the Atlantic Sun.

Following the trip to Macon, Campbell will return to the friendly confines of Taylor Field to face off against Maryland-Eastern Shore in a two game set starting on March 16th.  The last time these two teams faced off against each other was in 2000 and Campbell holds a 3-0 series lead over the Eagles.

Campbell will then face its second Atlantic Sun opponent in Kennesaw State starting on March 19th. Last season the two split the conference series 1-1 as the third game was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Owls hold the series lead 3-6 over the Fighting Camels.

Campbell will conclude a 7-game home stand with North Carolina State coming to Buies Creek on March 23rd. They will then conclude the month of March with a three-game conference series against the Ospreys of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, and return home to play Norfolk State on March 30, with Campbell returning the trip to Norfolk on May 11th.

April Presents Good Challenges for the Fighting Camels

Campbell will back to Florida over the first weekend of April, this time to Deland to face off against Atlantic Sun traditional power Stetson University. The Hatters have made regional appearances in 4 of the last 8 years, and will be an ASUN favorite once again in 2010. The Camels will then head down to Wilmington, N.C. for the completion of the home and home series with the Seahawks.

Taylor Field will play host to two of the last three weekends in April as the Camels will host the two-time  defending Atlantic Sun regular season champs Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, on April 9 and 10, and the East Tennessee State on April 23 and 24.  Campbell will hit the road to Spartanburg, SC to face Atlantic Sun foe USC Upstate on April 16 and 17.

April will also feature the annual two-game home and home series with 2009 NCAA Super Regional participant East Carolina Pirates.  On April 13 the Fighting Camels will travel to Greenville where they were victorious last season 12-8 against the # 17 ranked Pirates.  ECU will return the trip the next week, April 20, for a rematch of a thrilling 10-9 ECU victory at Taylor Field in 2009.

Camels Hit the Stretch Run in May

The Fighting Camels will begin May by playing a weekend series against in-state foe North Carolina Central University with the Friday game (April 30th) being played at Taylor Field and the following two being played in Durham at the legendary Durham Athletic Park on May 1. The DAP was showcased during the filming of the iconic baseball film Bull Durham, and now serves as the home field for the NCCU Eagles.

The non-conference slate for May will feature 4 games against Longwood University, beginning with a home weekend series on May 7-8, and a trip to Farmville, Va. on May 18th.

The conference schedule will feature the traditional May opponents for Campbell as they visit Nashville for a showdown with the Bruins from Belmont University on May 14 and 15, and host the Bisons from Lipscomb University on the final weekend of the regular season, May 20 and 21.  In 2009, the Fighting Camels went 3-3 against these respective conference opponents, taking 2 or 3 from the Bruins at Taylor Field, and dropping 2 of 3 to the Bisons in Nashville.

The Atlantic Sun Championship will take place in Nashville, Tennessee, May 26-29, 2010. The top six seeds will advance to the conference tournament out of a possible ten teams, with the winner of the tournament earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament.

(Release)

Phoenix Hosts 2010 Elon Classic To Open Season

“I believe that we’ve put together a very challenging schedule again in 2010,” said Kennedy. “This is the kind of schedule that, if we play well, will put us in a position to make a third straight trip to the postseason. The Southern Conference is always a competitive and balanced league. Our non-conference portion of the schedule is as tough as you

Elon Head Coach Mike Kennedy

will find with the likes of Rice, Nebraska, North Carolina, Clemson and East Carolina. The obvious challenge will be how well we handle such a demanding schedule.”

We are continually on the look out for 2010 schedules to add to our SCHEDULE PAGE.  Here are a few more we scrounged-up this week along with season-openers:

Charleston Southern:  Hosts 3 games to open the season vs. Virginia Commonwealth.

Evansville:  At Belmont in Nashville, TN for 3 games.

Hartford:  Opens with one game at Central Connecticut on March 10, then heads to UCF for three games.

Indiana State:  Opens with 3 games at Minnesota in the Metrodome.

Jacksonville:  Hosts 3 games with UNC Wilmington.

UMBC:  Hosts 3 games vs. Army February 26, 27 & 28.

Winthrop:  Hosts two games vs. Northwestern Feb. 19 & 20 and two games vs. George Mason Feb. 20 & 21.

Wisconsin Milwaukee:  Open with four games at Arkansas State.

Rams looking to build on their record-setting 2009 campaign

URI Head Coach Jim Foster

home runs and fielding percentage – the 2010 squad will look to pick up where it left off, returning all but three starters (two pitchers, one infielder) from a year ago.

Rhody opens the new season with a three-game series at Mississippi State (Feb. 19-21) before heading to Charlottesville, Va. for three games against the Virginia Cavaliers.

Complete 2010 Rhode Island Schedule

The Rams will spend March 6-11 in Winter Haven, Fla., facing various opponents who have yet to be determined. URI then travels to UNC Wilmington for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 19. From there, Rhody will travel to William and Mary for a pair of games on the 23rd and 24th.

The Atlantic 10 portion of the schedule will feature home series against Charlotte (April 9-11), Massachusetts (April 16-18), Xavier (April 23-25), Richmond (May 14-16), and George Washington (May 20-22).

The Rams will travel to play three-game conference series at Temple (March 26-28), Fordham (April 1-3), Duquesne (April 30-May 2), and St. Bonaventure (May 7-9).

The Ram’s non-conference home schedule features games against Central Connecticut (March 30), Boston College (March 31), Quinnipiac (April 13), Bryant (April 14), Brown (April 27), Siena (April 28) and Northeastern (May 19).

Rhode Island will also face Northeastern (April 7), Sacred Heart (April 20) and Connecticut (April 21) on the road.

Atlantic 10 action will wrap up at the league’s 2010 Championship at Campbell’s Field in Camden, N.J., from May 26-29.

HARRISONBURG, Va., Nov. 3, 2009 – A four-team tournament in Myrtle Beach, an extended trip to Florida, a home-and-away series with Virginia, 12 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams, and home night games for the first time in program history highlight the 2010 James Madison baseball schedule released Tuesday.

JMU Head Coach Spanky McFarland

his 13^th season with the Dukes.  “It’s a little harder because I feel we have an experienced team that should be able to handle it.  Any time you have a lot of experience, you want to play as good a schedule as you can.  The thinking is to try to give the team more than one way to get into the NCAA tournament.  We want to get the RPI high enough that we can get an at-large bid into the tournament if we don’t win the CAA.”

Complete 2010 James Madison Schedule

Overall the schedule features eight games against top 50 teams in the 2009 RPI and 17 against the top 100.  Additionally, the Diamond Dukes will play 12 games against teams that qualified for the 2009 NCAA field of 64, including games against College World Series qualifier Virginia in Charlottesville on March 2 and at home on March 17.  The home contest against the Cavaliers will be one of the marquee games for JMU’s first season in Veterans Memorial Stadium and the first home night game in program history.

One of the key early weekends on the schedule will be the Baseball at the Beach event hosted by Coastal Carolina at BB&T Coastal Field, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Class A Carolina League in Minor League Baseball.  The weekend will have the feel of a four-team NCAA Regional as JMU will be joined by Coastal Carolina (Feb. 26), UC Irvine (Feb. 28), and North Carolina State (Feb. 27).  The Anteaters spent much of the 2009 season ranked first in the nation and, along with CCU, finished in the top 30 of the final RPI.

McFarland commented on the weekend in Myrtle Beach, “We tried to put ourselves in a regional atmosphere so that if we do make it, we’ll have the experience of playing at some tough places against good teams.  It should be a good test early in the season.”

The new stadium will officially open the first weekend of the season when JMU hosts Marist College in a three-game set Feb. 19-21.  The Red Foxes reached the NCAA Tournament as champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.  Other games against NCAA teams include May 18 at East Carolina, May 12 at Monmouth, and March 26-28 at George Mason.

The week after Baseball at the Beach, JMU will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. for eight games in a span of 10 days.  The trip includes three games against host North Florida (March 5, 11, 13) along with two games against Illinois State (March 12 & 14), and single games against Alcorn State (March 6) and Stetson (March 9 at Stetson).

The Florida trip will also feature an exhibition game against the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars on March 7.  McFarland stated, “I think that’s one of those once-in–a-lifetime experiences that transcends everything.  It’s an opportunity to meet other people and see how the sport is played in a different country.  It will be a good cultural experience for the guys.   And they are a very good team so it will be another good test.”

The Colonial Athletic Association portion of the 2010 schedule features eight three-game series in the traditional Friday, Saturday, and Sunday format and will culminate in the four-team CAA Championship May 27-29 at UNC Wilmington’s Brooks Field.  JMU will play home series against Towson (March 19-21), William and Mary (April 9-11), UNCW (April 16-18), and Delaware (April 30-May 2).  Road series include George Mason (March 26-28), Old Dominion on Easter Weekend (April 2-4), Hofstra (May 14-16), and VCU (May 21-23).

In addition to Virginia, the Dukes will play home-and-away series against Radford, Longwood, Liberty, Maryland, and VMI.  They will also have a three-game trip to Kennesaw State in Georgia April 24-25.

July Photo of Construction On JMU's Veterans Stadium

JMU’s new stadium, Veterans Memorial Stadium, is nearly completed construction and will be available when the team begins practice in early February.  The facility features a synthetic turf playing surface throughout (including the infield dirt area) with seating for 1,200 and lights.  The complex also includes renovations to JMU’s Memorial Hall with new locker rooms, offices for coaches, team meeting rooms, indoor batting cages, sports medicine, and strength training facilities.  The indoor areas will be occupied during JMU’s winter break.

The schedule at the new stadium includes a total of 11 night games with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. at all games with the exception of Sundays beginning March 19 through the remainder of the season.  JMU, which has traditionally played only a handful of night games in a season, will play nearly 20 night contests home and away in 2010.

McFarland added, “I’m excited about the night games.  When we return from Florida we’ll start immediately.  I think that will be fun.  We’re going with 6:30 games so kids can come to games and still get home at a decent time.  It’s also late enough that it’s after work and dinner so hopefully people can get there.”

JMU returns an experienced roster in 2010 with 23 of 29 letterwinners back from last year’s 30-24 squad.  The Dukes return starters at all eight field positions and players who accounted for 1,655 of the team’s 1,960 total at bats.  On the mound, JMU returns nine pitchers who threw at least 25 innings last year and players who accounted for 413 2/3 of the team’s 474 total innings pitched.  In addition, the Dukes return a starting catcher who missed all but 10 games in 2009 due to injury and a pair of probable starting pitchers who sat out the entire season due to an injury and a transfer redshirt.

NOTE: The Veterans Memorial monument at the entrance to the new baseball/softball complex will be dedicated this Sunday, Nov. 8, as part of Veterans Day celebrations in the city of Harrisonburg.  A parade downtown will begin at 2 p.m. with the monument dedication at 3:15 p.m. in the softball stadium at the new complex.  Members of the JMU baseball and softball programs along with the Marching Royal Dukes will be in attendance as part of the ceremony.

(Press Release)

A three-game home series with SEC member Alabama, road games at South Carolina and North Carolina, and 30 Southern Conference contests highlight the College of Charleston’s 2010 baseball schedule.

Cougar Head Coach Monte Lee

“We are excited about our 2010 schedule,” said second-year Cougar coach Monte Lee. “We have a three-game home series with SEC powerhouse Alabama, which has never happened here, along with non-conference games with South Carolina, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina and UNC Wilmington.

“We feel like we have a strong non-conference schedule to go along with an always competitive Southern conference schedule. We are excited about the challenge this schedule presents.”

The Cougars, who open the season with a three-game home series against Radford (Feb. 19-21), play 18 of their first 19 games at Patriots Point Stadium. Overall, Charleston plays 32 home games.

Charleston plays host to the Crimson Tide, March 5-7.  The Cougars have Southern Conference home series with Samford, Georgia Southern, Wofford, Elon and The Citadel.  The Cougars also play host to non-league members UNC Asheville, Holy Cross, Charleston Southern, Toledo, Ball State, Jacksonville, USC Upstate, UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina.

The Cougars play league series at UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, Furman, Davidson and Appalachian State.  Charleston also plays at Charleston Southern, South Carolina, USC Upstate, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, UNC Wilmington and a non-conference matchup with rival The Citadel on April 20.

The Southern Conference Tournament will be played at Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. from May 26-30.

(Press Release)

Pirates Play Six Teams That Appeared In 2009 NCAA Regionals

ECU Head Coach Billy Godwin

The 2010 slate features 17 games against teams that earned a bid to the 2009 NCAA Regionals; 32 against teams with 30-plus wins; five that topped the 40-plus win plateau; two that made trips to the College World Series and five that finished ranked in the Top 25 polls, including three in the Top 10.

ECU will open play on Friday, Feb. 19 against College World Series participant Virginia in a three-game tilt and will stay home for their next four games, a midweek match-up against former Colonial Athletic Association foe Old Dominion (Feb. 23) and three games against 2009 Greenville Regional participant South Carolina (Feb. 26-28).

Conference USA play opens April 2 for the Pirates when they welcome league foe Tulane to town for a three-game series. Other C-USA schools making the trek to Greenville in 2010 include UAB (Apr. 16-18), Marshall (Apr. 30-May 2) and Houston (May 20-22).

League road trips include Memphis (Apr. 9-11), Super Regional participant Rice (Apr. 23-25), College World Series participant Southern Miss (May 7-9) and UCF (May 14-16).

ECU’s home non-conference schedule is highlighted by the annual Keith LeClair Classic that pits the Pirates against Illinois (Mar. 5), West Virginia (Mar. 6) and Western Carolina (Mar. 7). Also scheduled for weekend series in Greenville are NCAA Regional participant Monmouth (Mar. 19-21) and North Carolina Central (Mar. 26-28), which serves as the Pirates’ C-USA open weekend.

The first of 20 games away from Clark-LeClair Stadium occurs when the Pirates travel to High Point (Mar. 2), which is followed by a west-coast trip to face Cal State Northridge (Mar. 10) and Pepperdine (Mar. 11-13) during their spring break.

Along with NCAA Regional participant Elon (Mar. 30 and May 11), ECU will have home-and-home series against UNC Wilmington (Mar. 31 and Apr. 27) and Campbell (Apr. 13 and 20), while also playing High Point (Mar. 23), Gardner Webb (Mar. 16), N.C. State (Apr. 21) and James Madison (May 18).

”We have put together another outstanding schedule,” said Godwin. ”Our players look forward to playing on a national stage and our conference and non-conference schedules give them the opportunity to compete with some of the top teams in the country.”

The Pirates, who have made 10 NCAA Regional appearances in the last 11 seasons, claimed the 2009 Conference USA regular season and 2009 Greenville Regional titles before advancing to their third NCAA Super Regional on the way to a 46-20 overall record.

(Press Release)