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Regionals were ruthless
for Bonesville's teams

From AP and staff reports

When the NCAA's postseason weeding out process started, the representation of the league and the state covered most extensively by Bonesville.net was substantial.

Once the action got underway, that list was trimmed ruthlessly.

Conference USA, which placed five teams in last weekend's Division I Baseball Regionals, saw four of its entries — East Carolina, Louisville, South Florida and Tulane — fall by the wayside.

Only Houston, which moved up to No. 6 in both the Baseball News and Baseball America rankings after bouncing Arizona State, advanced to this weekend's super-regionals. The Cougars will be visitors as well as underdogs when they challenge No. 3 Texas in Austin.

Meanwhile, all four of North Carolina's participants in the regionals bit the dust. In addition to the Pirates, who were eliminated by Clemson, heavily favored Wake Forest was ousted by Richmond, UNC-Chapel Hill was knocked out by South Carolina, and Elon stayed in the losers bracket from the get-go, promptly dropping two games to end its first-ever foray into the big boys' playoffs.

As the postseason action progresses, Bonesville.net will provide Associated Press coverage of games involving the Carolinas' teams — the Tigers and Gamecocks — and C-USA's last hope for a 2002 berth in Omaha — Houston.

Miami continues improbable tourney run

Miami is trying to get back to the College World Series the hard way — as underdogs on the road.

The defending-champion Hurricanes (33-27), who barely made it into the NCAA tournament field after their record hovered near .500 all season, will play at South Carolina (51-15) in one of eight best-of-three super-regionals beginning Friday.

The other sites and pairings announced by the NCAA Division I baseball committee on Monday were:

— Notre Dame (47-15) at Florida State (59-12)
— Arkansas (34-26) at Clemson (50-14)
— Florida Atlantic (46-19) at Georgia Tech (49-14)
— Louisiana State (44-20) at Rice (50-12)
— Houston (47-15) at Texas (51-14)
— Richmond (52-11) at Nebraska (45-18)
— Southern California (37-22) at Stanford (43-16)

All games will be played on campus fields, and each super-regional winner earns a berth at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., starting June 14.

Of the eight national seeds, only No. 3 Alabama and No. 7 Wake Forest failed to make it to the super-regionals. The committee gave preference to the national seeds in selecting the hosts.

``They're given strong consideration, and that seems to be the case this year,'' committee chairman Wally Groff said. ``But it's not mandatory.''

Groff said the bids ranged from about $50,000 to about $170,000, but not all remaining schools placed bids to play host to a super regional.

Miami (33-27) is used to playing postseason games at home, and went 3-7 on the road before the NCAA tournament. But since earning an at-large berth, the Hurricanes have had the look of a defending champion.

``We know if you get hot and believe in yourself, anything can happen,'' Miami coach Jim Morris said after the Hurricanes rallied from a two-run, ninth-inning deficit to beat Florida 8-7 on Sunday night.

The Florida State-Notre Dame matchup at Dick Howser Stadium features two of college baseball's hottest teams. The Seminoles are on a 25-game winning streak and the Irish have won 29 of 32.

``We have not reached our goal, but certainly we have been given every opportunity to achieve it,'' Seminoles coach Mike Martin said.

Another intriguing matchup is Arkansas at Clemson. While the Tigers were No. 1 in the national polls for a stretch during the season, the at-large selection of the Razorbacks was a surprise after they went 14-15 in the Southeastern Conference.

But Arkansas swept through the Wichita regional, including a win over Oklahoma and two against Oral Roberts.

``They've certainly made our decision look better,'' Groff said.

Stanford is looking to advance to Omaha for the fourth consecutive year.

``I have never had a group that has gone to the College World Series three straight years and play in two national championship games,'' Cardinal coach Mark Marquess said. ``Going for a fourth straight year is something that we are shooting for.''

The LSU-Rice series at Reckling Park in Houston includes two schools that have had some of college baseball's biggest attendance figures over the past few years. Rice ticket manager David Welsh said that the series at the stadium, which holds 5,667, was sold out shortly after the sites were announced.

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Copyright 2002 Associated Press and Bonesville.net. All rights reserved. Associated Press sports writer DENNIS WASZAK, Jr., contributed the national recap portion of this report. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 

02/23/2007 10:44 AM