May 26, 2008
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina baseball team (38-21) has earned a spot in the 64-team field of the 2008 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Carolina will be making its ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the 10th under head coach Ray Tanner. The Gamecocks are the No. 2 seed in the Raleigh, NC regional and will face Charlotte (43-14) on Friday, May 30. The other two teams in the Gamecocks’ regional bracket are top seeded NC State (38-20) and fourth seeded James Madison (38-17). This is Carolina’s 24th overall appearance in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. South Carolina has reached eight College World Series as well as seven NCAA Super Regionals.
The Gamecocks are one of nine teams from the SEC to play in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. South Carolina’s nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Baseball Tournament (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) is the longest current streak of all 12 SEC schools. Carolina is one of only eight schools in the nation that has reached the NCAA Regional in the last nine consecutive years.
The national top eight seeds are Miami (Fla.) (47-8), North Carolina (46-12), Arizona State (45-11), Florida State (48-10), Cal State Fullerton (37-19), Rice (42-13), LSU (43-16-1) and Georgia (35-21-1).
The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with nine, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 with six. Conference USA and the Pacific-10 have five teams each, while the Big West has four.
Each of the 16 regionals feature four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 30, to Monday, June 2 (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.ncaa.com, Monday, June 2 at approximately 11 p.m. (ET).
The 62nd Men’s College World Series begins play Saturday, June 14, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tentative Schedule of NCAA Raleigh Regional
Friday, May 30th
2pm Game – #2 South Carolina vs. #3 Charlotte
7pm Game – #1 NC State vs. #4 James Madison
Saturday, May 31st
2pm Game – TBA, Loser Games 1 & 2
7pm Game – TBA, Winner Games 1 & 2
Sunday, June 1st
1pm Game – TBA, Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
6pm Game – TBA, Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Monday, June 2nd
1pm Game – TBA (if necessary), Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
