May 29, 2006
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Indianapolis, Ind. - Stanford (30-25) will begin the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship by traveling to a regional hosted by the University of Texas (Austin, Texas) this Friday-Monday, June 2-5. The Cardinal is seeded third in the regional and will play No. 2 seed North Carolina State (38-21) in its first postseason game on Friday, June 2 (11 am, CT/9 am, PT). Host and Big 12 regular season champion Texas (40-19), the top seed in the regional and the No. 3 national seed, will also open regional play on Friday (3 pm, CT/1 pm, PT) versus fourth-seeded Texas-Arlington (29-34).
"We're happy that we made it," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "I'm really proud of this team. We've faced a lot of adversity, but we bounced back and played our best baseball the last 15 or 20 games of the regular season."
All games in the regional will be televised live by ESPNU.
The regional will continue on Saturday with the losers of Friday's contests playing an elimination game (Game 3) at 11 am, CT/9 am, PT. Friday's winners will square off in a winners' bracket game (Game 4) at 3 pm, CT/1 pm, PT.
The Game 3 winner and Game 4 loser will play an elimination contest (Game 5) on Sunday at Noon, CT/10 am, PT.
The first championship game will pit the Game 4 and Game 5 winners on Sunday at 4 pm, CT/2 pm, PT. A second championship game (Game 7), if necessary, will be played on Monday (6 pm, CT/4 pm, PT). The second championship contest would be necessary if the winner of Game 5 defeats the winner of Game 4 in the first championship game.
To purchase tickets from the Stanford Athletics Ticket Office, call at 1-800-STANFORD beginning at Noon, PT, on Tuesday, May 30. Purchasing tickets through this method will allow you to set in the Stanford section.
The bracket for the entire 64-team field, top eight national seeds and site assignments for the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship were announced live on ESPN during a half-hour television program on Monday. The committee set the tournament bracket through both the super regionals and the first round of the College World Series, and will not reseed the field after play begins.
To purchase tickets from the Stanford Athletics Ticket Office, call at 1-800-STANFORD beginning at Noon, PT, on Tuesday, May 30. Purchasing tickets through this method will allow you to set in the Stanford section.
Tickets may also be ordered online at texasboxoffice.com, by phone at 800/982-BEVO or 512/471-3333, or in person at the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall between 9 am - 4 pm (Central) beginning on Tuesday, May 30. The Disch-Falk Field ticket office also will be open from 10 am - 6 pm (Central) from Tuesday, May 30 through Thursday, June 1 and will open two hours prior to the day's opening session on all game days during the Regional.
Regional all-session ticket prices are $60 for reserved seats and $45 for general admission. Individual session tickets (if available) will go on sale at 9 am, CT, on Friday, June 2 and can be ordered online, by phone or at the Disch-Falk Field ticket booth. Prices for individual session tickets are $12 for reserved seats and $9 for general admission.
The winner of the Austin regional will advance to a super regional versus the winner of a regional being hosted by Oregon State (Corvallis, Oregon). The Corvallis regional features host Oregon State (39-14), along with second-seeded Kansas (42-23), third-seeded Hawaii (43-15) and fourth-seeded Wright State (32-25).
Eight super regionals consisting of 16 regional winners will be held from Friday, June 9 - Monday, May 12. Super regional hosts along with specific dates and times will be announced on ncaasports.com, Monday, June 5 at approximately 9:00 p.m. (ET).
Super regional winners will make up the eight-team field for the 60th College World Series to be held Friday, June 16 - Monday, June 26, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Stanford will be participating in the NCAA's postseason event for the 13th consecutive season (1994-2006) and the 27th time overall. The Cardinal will be traveling to a regional for the second consecutive year after hosting a regional for nine consecutive seasons from 1996-2004.
Stanford was selected as one of 30 at-large teams to the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Championships. Stanford tied for fifth in the Pac-10 this season with an 11-13 conference record.
Stanford made five consecutive trips to the College World Series from 1999-2003 before the run was snapped when the Cardinal was eliminated in a 2004 regional final game by Long Beach State and the Omaha dry spell continued last year when Stanford was knocked out of the Waco regional in the championship game by host Baylor. All told, Stanford has won two CWS titles (1987, 1988) and finished as the national runner-up on three other occasions (2000, 2001, 2003), while making a total of 15 trips to Omaha and coming back with at least one victory each time. Stanford has an all-time postseason record of 117-58 (.669) and is 65-25 (.722) in 23 regional appearances.
A complete list of regional hosts (and locations) are as follows: Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Ala.); Arkansas (Fayetteville, Ark.); Cal State Fullerton (Fullerton, Calif.); Clemson (Clemson, S.C.); Georgia (Athens, Ga.); Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Ga.); Kentucky, (Lexington, Ky.); Mississippi (Oxford, Miss.); Nebraska, (Lincoln, Neb.); North Carolina (Chapel Hill, N.C.); Oklahoma (Norman, Okla.); Oregon State (Corvallis, Oregon); Pepperdine (Malibu, Calif.); Rice (Houston; Texas); Texas (Austin, Texas); and Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.).
Kentucky and Pepperdine will host a regional for the first time, while North Carolina, Oregon State and Virginia are hosting for the second time in school history. This will be the 22nd time that Texas has hosted a regional, while Clemson (11th) is the only other institution to host 10 or more times since the NCAA went to the regional format in 1975. Georgia Tech is hosting a regional for the eighth time, while Cal State Fullerton (sixth), Oklahoma (sixth overall and third time in Norman), Alabama (fifth), Nebraska (fifth), Rice (fifth), Georgia (three) and Mississippi (three) have hosted in the past as well.
Seven sites (Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon State and Texas) also hosted in 2005.
2006 NCAA AUSTIN REGIONAL SCHEDULE
at Austin, Texas ... hosted by Texas*All Games Televised Live By ESPNU
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
11 am, CT/9 am, PT (Game 2) - No. 3 Stanford (30-25) vs. No. 2 North Carolina State (38-21)
3 pm, CT/1 pm, PT (Game 1) - No. 4 Texas-Arlington (29-34) vs. No. 1 Texas (40-19)
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
11 am, CT/9 am, PT (Game 3) - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser ... Elimination Game
3 pm, CT/1 pm, PT (Game 4) - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
SUNDAY, JUNE 4
Noon, CT/10 am, PT (Game 5) - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser ... Elimination Game
4 pm, CT/2 pm, PT (Championship #1, Game 6) - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner
MONDAY, JUNE 5
6 pm, CT/4 pm, PT (Championship #2, Game 7, if necessary) - If Game 5 Winner defeats Game 4 Winner in Game 6
Courtesy of ncaasports.com