The Binghamton University baseball team begins play in the 2014 NCAA baseball tournament on Friday night at 7 p.m. against host Oklahoma State. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3 from Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The NCAA regionals run exactly as the America East Championship - a double elimination format with the winner advancing to the Super Regional round. Stony Brook University became the first America East team under the current NCAA tournament format to advance to the Super Regional Round and then went on to the College World Series in 2012. An America East team has won at-least one game in four of the last five NCAA tournament’s beginning with Binghamton in 2009.
Binghamton is 1-4 all-time in the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats lone win came in 2009, defeated George Mason 11-6. Last year the Bearcats lost a pair of tight games to N.C. State and Ole Miss.
On Sunday, BU won the 2014 America East title with a memorable 8-7 win in 12 innings over top-seeded Stony Brook in the longest title game in conference history. The Bearcats were four outs from elimination before rallying to force extra innings and then BU won it when freshman Eddie Posavec hit a bases-loaded RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 12th.
The Cowboys were the Big 12 Conference regular season champions. OSU’s 45 wins are its most since 1999, which also marks the last time the Pokes appeared in the College World Series. OSU is making its 40th NCAA Tournament appearance, a total that ranks fourth all time, and the Cowboys own an all-time NCAA tourney record of 136-85 (.615), with the 136 wins ranking seventh in NCAA history. On Sunday, the Cowboys’ run at the Big 12 Baseball Championship fell short of a title as the top-seeded Cowboys dropped a 7-1 contest to second-seeded TCU in the championship game. The Cowboys are 33-11 all time in Regional play on their current home field and have won six Regional titles, the last coming in 1993.