Baseball heading to Texas A&M for NCAA Regionals

The Raiders (36-17) are making their fourth appearance in the Division I NCAA Regionals and 11th overall NCAA appearance in program history. WSU went 1-2 in 1994 in Knoxville, Tennessee, defeating North Carolina State 14-12 before falling to Arizona State 7-4 and North Carolina State 10-6. In 2006 in Corvallis, Oregon, Wright State dropped a 5-3 decision to eventual national champion Oregon State and lost 5-3 to Oregon while in 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas, the Raiders fell 6-3 to TCU and 6-4 in 11 innings to Texas A&M.

The Raiders have played just two games in June in the 41-year history of the program, with both of those coming at the Corvallis Regional on June 2 and 3, 2006.

The Aggies (42-18), after tying with Texas for the Big 12 regular-season crown at 19-8, won the conference tournament in Oklahoma City, defeating Texas Tech, Kansas State twice and Missouri to claim the title. The two teams have one common opponent this season in Le Moyne as Texas A&M swept the Dolphins 3-1, 10-2 and 14-0 in College Station February 18-20 while WSU also pulled off a sweep, winning 19-8, 16-9 and 7-0 in Buffalo April 8-10.

Wright State is 0-5 all-time against Texas A&M, with all five of those meetings coming during the 2009 season. The two teams opened that season with a four-game series in College Station February 20-22, with the Aggies winning 18-2, 7-6, 9-0 and 8-5. The two then met again at the NCAA Regionals in Fort Worth, Texas, with Texas A&M ending WSU’s season by a 6-4 score in 11 innings on May 30.

Wright State and Texas A&M are joined by regional No. 2 seed Arizona (36-19) and No. 3 seed Seton Hall (33-23) in the double-elimination event as the Wildcats and Pirates open the tournament Friday at 1:35 Eastern. Arizona finished 15-12 in the Pac-10, good for fourth place, while Seton Hall, after tying for fourth in the Big East regular-season standings at 14-13, won four straight games to take the conference tournament crown, defeating West Virginia, Connecticut twice and St. John’s.

The Raiders are 2-2 all-time against Arizona. Wright State won one of two in Tucson during the 1990 season, taking a 10-7 decision on March 20 and then falling 6-4 on March 21. The two teams again split two in 1993, with the Wildcats winning 17-7 on March 23 before WSU won 5-3 the following day. Wright State has never faced Seton Hall in baseball.Ticket information for the regional tournament can be found on the College Station Regional Tournament page at http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/2011-ncaa-regional.html.

The winner of the College Station regional will move on to a Super Regional next week against the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, which consists of Florida State, Central Florida, Alabama and Bethune-Cookman. The Super Regional is a best two-of-three format with the winner advancing to the eight-team College World Series, scheduled for June 18-29 in Omaha, Nebraska.

College Station Regional Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Friday, June 3
Game 1 — #2 seed Arizona (36-19) vs. #3 seed Seton Hall (33-23), 1:35
Game 2 — #1 seed Texas A&M (42-18) vs. #4 seed Wright State (36-17), 7:35

Saturday, June 4
Game 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1:35
Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:35

Sunday, June 5
Game 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 1:35
Game 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7:35

Monday, June 6
Game 7 (if necessary) — Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 7:35