TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — This is the Samford University baseball team’s chance to prove it belongs.
Samford defeated Georgia Southern University in the Southern Conference tournament to earn the program’s first NCAA tournament berth.
At 11 a.m. today, No. 3 seed Samford (39-21) will take on No. 2 seed Mississippi State University (39-22) in the opening game of the NCAA tournament’s Tallahassee Regional at Florida State University’s Dick Howser Stadium.
Samford hopes to use its Tallahassee Regional-best .307 batting average and an offense that is ranked sixth nationally in runs scored (425) and home runs (62) to make history. Senior outfielder Brandon Miller (.299) leads the nation with 22 home runs.
However, after getting only five of its program-record 39 wins against top-50 programs, according to the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), Samford enters the regional feeling forgotten and disrespected.
“We do get looked down on a lot because we’re not one of the big SEC teams, one of the big Division I teams,” Samford pitcher Josh Martin told the Associated Press. “Our team’s just as good. It’s awesome for us to be able to get a chance to show that off and put ourselves in front of the nation.”
MSU will go with junior right-hander Chris Stratton (11-1, 2.21 ERA). The Tupelo native is the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. He leads the SEC in wins and ERA, and is second with 123 strikeouts.
Senior right-hander Charles Basford (9-2, 3.95) is expected to start for Samford.
MSU, which is in its 32nd NCAA tournament, went 3-0 in winning its past two regionals. It defeated Stetson once and Florida State twice in winning the 2007 Tallahassee Regional. Last year, MSU earned its 10th NCAA regional championship with wins against Southern Mississippi, Austin Peay, and Georgia Tech at the Atlanta Regional.
Sophomore shortstop Adam Frazier (.370), named MVP at last week’s SEC tournament, enters the Tallahassee Regional riding a career-best and season-long 12-game hitting streak. A starter in all 61 games, Frazier had a SEC-tournament leading 12 hits and hit .523 in six games. Named recently to the 2012 USA Baseball National Collegiate Team, Frazier is third in the SEC with 88 hits, most among players entering the Tallahassee Regional.
No. 3 national seed FSU (43-15) is the top seed for the double-elimination event. It will take on No. 4 seed University of Alabama at Birmingham (32-28) at 5 p.m. today.
“We’re not a great team,” said UAB coach Brian Shoop, a former MSU assistant coach. “We don’t have a .300 hitter. We don’t have an all-conference player. We’ve been decimated on the pitching staff with injuries. At the same time, we’re a good, competitive team. If you look at our numbers last week in the four games, though, there was a turnaround. We played great.”
FSU is in the tournament for the 50th time (33 straight under coach Mike Martin), but hasn’t won a College World Series in 20 appearances. Outfielder James Ramsey and infielder Jayce Boyd, who are two of 30 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award (nation’s top amateur player) lead FSU, which is 3-7 in its past 10 games.
“We ain’t the hottest club in the country,” said Martin, who has won 1,716 games but is still seeking his first national titles despite 14 trips to the College World Series. “But we’re a team that understands it’s a new season.”
Samford, which outscored opponents 40-15 and won all four of its games to take the Southern Conference tournament last week in Greenville, S.C., gained confidence earlier this month when it earned back-to-back wins against the No. 1 overall seed University of Florida and at the University of Oklahoma.
“I think the trip to Oklahoma (the Bulldogs lost two of three games to the Sooners) is the best thing that happened to us because we saw two pitchers throwing 97-98 mph and then another one throwing 101,” Samford coach Casey Dunn said. “We come to this thing thinking we can win it. There’s no reason from a talent perspective we can’t.”
Losing teams today will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday in an elimination game. The winners will square off at 6 p.m. Saturday. All of the games will be available online on ESPN3.
All of MSU’s postseason games will be broadcast on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network and available at no cost to online listeners at www.HailState.com/hstvline. Jim Ellis and Bart Gregory will provide the calls of the games.
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