May 26, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –After opening the regular season in Tempe, Ariz., at the DeMarini Invitational, Vanderbilt’s baseball team will begin NCAA postseason play at the Tempe Regional this Friday, the NCAA announced today.
The Commodores (40-20, 15-14 SEC) are the No. 2 seed at the regional and will open play against No. 3 seed Oklahoma (34-24-1, 9-17-1 Big 12) on Friday at 4 p.m. CT/ 2 p.m. PT.
Host Arizona State (45-11, 16-8 Pac-10) is the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 seed Stony Brook (34-24, 14-10 America East) on Friday at 9 p.m. CT/ 7 p.m. PT.
Vanderbilt will be making a school record third straight NCAA appearance and fourth showing overall under sixth-year head coach Tim Corbin. The Commodores are 11-12 in NCAA play all-time.
“Right now our minds are focused on preparing for Oklahoma,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “The other teams are not really a factor because we don’t know who we’ll play until the outcome of the Oklahoma game.”
Last season VU was the No. 1 National Seed and hosted a regional in Nashville, falling to Michigan in the regional final.
“We were here (at home) last year, and everybody was saying we were going to win it all,” said junior shortstop Ryan Flaherty. “This year, we are flying under the radar. Hopefully we’ll go in there and make the most of it.”
The winner of the four-team event will advance to a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional that will start either Friday or Saturday, June 6-7. The Tempe regional winner will match up against the winner of the regional being hosted by Long Beach State. The LBSU Regional consists of Long Beach State, San Diego, California and Fresno State. The eight super regional winners will advance to the College World Series June 14-25 in Omaha, Neb.
The Sooners needed a win against Oklahoma State in the last game of the regular season in order to advance to the Big 12 Tournament as the eighth place finisher at 9-17-1. OU went 1-2 in the tourney with a win over Missouri and losses to Texas and Texas A&M.
Vanderbilt opened the regular season at Arizona State’s DeMarini Invitational and fell to the Sun Devils, 18-6, in the second game of the tournament. The Sun Devils finished atop the Pac-10 standings with a 16-8 mark and are the No. 3 national seed.
Stony Brook captured the America East Conference Tournament after finishing second during the regular season with a 14-10 mark.
The Commodores have never faced any of the teams in NCAA tourney play. They are 2-1 against ASU and 2-0 against Oklahoma all-time. VU and Stony Brook have never met on the baseball diamond.
In all nine Southeastern Conference teams made the NCAA tournament, including two national seeds in SEC regular season champ Georgia and tourney winner LSU.
VU will practice tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Hawkins Field before departing for Arizona Wednesday morning.
TICKET INFORMATION
Ticket prices start at just $40 for the seven game All-Session Pass and can be purchased by calling the ASU Ticket Office at Call 480-727-0000
Will call will be located at the Packard Stadium ticket office on game day and will open an hour and a half prior to the first game of the day. Tickets may also be purchased on game day at the Packard Stadium ticket office. All tickets for NCAA playoff events are the same price regardless of the number of games played each day.
All-Session Pass (available Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.) Field Level – $80
Reserved Adult – $60
Reserved Junior/Senior – $50
General Admission – $40
Single Game Prices (available Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.)
Field Level – $15
Reserved Adult – $12
Reserved Junior/Senior – $10
General Admission – $7
