Courtesy: Albany Media Relations & NCAA Media Relations
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Albany, N.Y. ? UAlbany will meet seventh-seeded Arkansas in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, as the national tournament bracket was unveiled on Monday, May 28. The Razorbacks, who will host the Fayetteville Regional on June 1-4, are ranked 15th nationally with a 41-19 record. Oklahoma State (38-19) and Creighton (44-14) are also in the regional which will be played at Baum Stadium at George Cole Field, a 10,737-seat facility.
Tom Hart is the play-by-play announcer for the Arkansas-UAlbany game. He will be joined in the booth by former major league player Kevin Stocker (Phillies, 1993-97; Tampa Bay, 1998-2000; Angels, 2000). CSTV is seen in more than 20 million homes via cable and satellite. CSTV is widely available on cable systems across the country, including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Insight, Bright House Networks, Mediacom, RCN, Advanced Cable and Bresnan. CSTV is also available on DIRECTV’s Total Choice Premier Package Channel 610 and DISH Network’s America’s Top 120 Package Channel 152.
UAlbany (29-27) is making its first-ever NCAA appearance after capturing the America East Conference championship with a 1-0 victory over top-seed Binghamton last Saturday. The Great Danes, who have won eight of their last 10 outings, including three straight in America East postseason play, own the second-highest win total in school history. Steve Wyland, a first-team all-conference third baseman, batted .379 with 23 extra-base hits and 44 RBI. He drove in the game’s lone run in the A-East championship game. Right-hander John Naples tied the program’s single-season record for pitching wins with an 8-2 mark and a 3.29 earned run average.
“We are excited to go to Fayetteville,” said UAlbany coach Jon Mueller, who has been the Great Danes mentor for all eight seasons at the Division I level. “I think the selection committee showed us some respect by placing us with seventh-seeded Arkansas. They must have felt that we have been playing some very good baseball after we won our conference tournament in three games.”
Arkansas is making its 20th NCAA appearance, plus has advanced the College World Series on five occasions. The Razorbacks are hosting the regional tournament for the fourth time, including three of the last four years. Arkansas came up just short of winning its first Southeastern Conference (SEC) title after falling to top-ranked Vanderbilt in the conference championship last weekend. Pitchers Nick Schmidt (10-3, 2.85 ERA) and Jess Todd (9-2, 2.49 ERA) each earned first-team All-SEC recognition. First baseman Danny Hamblin totaled 22 home runs and 60 RBI.
Oklahoma State is in the NCAA field for the 35th time. The Cowboys, who have reached the CWS 19 times, finished third in the Big 12 Conference regular-season standings. Second baseman Tyler Mach (15 HR, 79 RBI), outfielder Corey Brown (19 HR, 65 RBI) and second baseman Ty Wright (.417 BA) each made the all-conference first team.
Creighton captured its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference championship. The Blue Jays are making their eighth NCAA appearance and reached the CWS in 1991. MVC Player of the Year Darin Ruff is hitting .377 with eight home runs and 56 RBI. Ben Mancuso, the MVC Pitcher of the Year, has a 10-2 record with a 2.28 ERA.
Tickets are on sale to the general public at the Razorback Ticket Center or online at www.hogwired.com. As of last Wednesday, approximately 1,600 reserved tournament books remained. Tournament books are $70 for the regional. Individual game tickets will only be available on game day. All game day tickets, reserved and general admission/HogPen are $15 each. For more ticket information, call 1-800-982-HOGS (4647).
NCAA Fayetteville Regional Tournament Schedule (All Times Eastern)
Friday, June 1
#2 Creighton vs. #3 Oklahoma State, 3:30 pm (Game 1) (CSTV)
#1 Arkansas vs. #4 Albany, 7:30 pm (Game 2) (CSTV/TW3)
Saturday, June 2
Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3:30 p.m. (Game 3) (CSTV)
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7:30 p.m. (Game 4) (CSTV)
Sunday, June 3
Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3:30 p.m. (Game 5) (CSTV)
Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 7:30 p.m. (Game 6) (CSTV)
Monday, June 4
Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 8:30 p.m. (Game 7)* - If necessary (CSTV)
OTHER SELECTION INFORMATION
FIELD BY CONFERENCE (30)
Atlantic Coast 7 (Clemson, Florida St., Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, North Carolina St. Virginia, Wake Forest)
Big 12 6 (Baylor, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma St., Texas, Texas A&M)
Southeastern 5 (Arkansas, Mississippi St, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt)
Big West 4 (Cal St. Fullerton, Long Beach St., UC Irvine, UC Riverside)
Conference USA 4 (East Carolina, Memphis, Rice, Southern Miss)
Pacific 10 4 (Arizona St., Arizona, Oregon St., UCLA)
Big East 3 (Louisville, Rutgers, St. John’s (N.Y.)
Big 10 3 (Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio St.)
Sun Belt 3 (La.-Lafayette, New Orleans, Troy)
Atlantic Sun 2 (Jacksonville, Stetson)
Missouri Valley 2 (Creighton, Wichita St.)
Southern 2 (Western Carolina, Wofford)
West Coast 2 (Pepperdine, San Diego)
America East 1 (Albany (N.Y.)
Atlantic 10 1 (Charlotte)
Big South 1 (Coastal Carolina)
Colonial 1 (VCU)
Horizon 1 (Ill.-Chicago)
Ivy 1 (Brown)
Metro Atlantic 1 (Le Moyne)
Mid-American 1 (Kent St.)
Mid-Continent 1 (Oral Roberts)
Mid-Eastern 1 (Bethune-Cookman)
Mountain West 1 (TCU)
Northeast 1 (Monmouth)
Ohio Valley 1 (Austin Peay)
Patriot 1 (Lafayette)
Southland 1 (Sam Houston St.)
Southwestern 1 (Prairie View)
Western Athletic 1 (Fresno St.)
FIELD BY STATE (26)
California 8 (Cal St. Fullerton, Fresno St., Long Beach St., Pepperdine, San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UCLA)
Texas 7 (Baylor, Prairie View, Rice, Sam Houston St., TCU, Texas, Texas A&M)
North Carolina 6 (Charlotte, East Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina St., Wake Forest, Western Carolina)
Florida 5 (Bethune-Cookman, Florida St., Jacksonville, Miami (Fla.), Stetson)
South Carolina 4 (Clemson, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, Wofford)
Mississippi 3 (Mississippi St., Ole Miss, Southern Miss.)
New York 3 (Albany (N.Y.), Le Moyne, St. John’s (N.Y.)
Tennessee 3 (Austin Peay, Memphis, Vanderbilt)
Arizona 2 (Arizona, Arizona St.)
Louisiana 2 (La.-Lafayette, New Orleans)
Nebraska 2 (Creighton, Nebraska)
New Jersey 2 (Monmouth, Rutgers)
Ohio 2 (Kent St., Ohio St.)
Oklahoma 2 (Oklahoma St., Oral Roberts)
Virginia 2 (Virginia, VCU)
Alabama 1 (Troy)
Arkansas 1 (Arkansas)
Illinois 1 (Ill.-Chicago)
Kansas 1 (Wichita St.)
Kentucky 1 (Louisville)
Michigan 1 (Michigan)
Minnesota 1 (Minnesota)
Missouri 1 (Missouri)
Oregon 1 (Oregon St.)
Pennsylvania 1 (Lafayette)
Rhode Island 1 (Brown)