Virginia Baseball Earns No. 5 National Seed in 2010 NCAA Tournament
Cavaliers will welcome Ole Miss, St. John’s and VCU to Davenport Field
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team has been awarded the No. 5 national seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, the NCAA announced Monday. The Cavaliers will play host to the NCAA Charlottesville Regional at Davenport Field and will welcome Ole Miss, St. John’s and VCU June 4-7 for the double-elimination tournament.
A national seed in the 64-team field for the first time in program history, Virginia will open the tournament at 4 p.m. Friday against VCU. Ole Miss and St. John’s will play the nightcap at 8 p.m.
The losing teams from Friday will square off in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Saturday, while the winners will play at 6 p.m. Saturday. The second elimination game will be contested at 1 p.m. Sunday, with the championship game slated for 6 p.m. Sunday. If necessary, a second championship game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday.
The 2010 ACC Coastal Division champion, Virginia (47-11, 23-7 ACC) is the regional’s top seed and has won 18 of its last 20 games entering the tournament. Virginia will be competing in its seventh-consecutive NCAA tournament and is one of just 14 schools to have played in each of the last seven tournaments. UVa, 30-4 at home this year, will serve as a host site for the fourth time (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010).
No. 2 seed Ole Miss (38-22, 16-14 Southeastern Conference) received an at-large berth in the tournament. The Cavaliers and Rebels also played in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with Virginia winning two of three games in the Oxford Super Regional to earn a berth in the College World Series. The Rebels are led by All-America starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz, who went 8-2 with a 2.21 ERA this season. He also is one of the nation’s leaders in strikeouts with 134 and is expected to be a first-round pick next week in the Major League Baseball Draft. Matt Smith leads the team in batting (.344), home runs (12) and RBI (51).
No. 3 seed St. John’s (40-18, 16-11 Big East) captured the Big East’s automatic berth in the tournament by winning the Big East Tournament title. The Red Storm swept four games to win the championship, including a pair of wins over Louisville and a victory in the title game against Connecticut – both Louisville and UConn earned host sites for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Freshman Jeremy Baltz leads St. John’s with a .393 batting average, 20 home runs and 74 RBI.
No. 4 seed (VCU, 34-24-1, 17-7-1 Colonial) earned the CAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after defeating UNC Wilmington, 7-5 in 12 innings, Saturday in the CAA championship game. The Rams are familiar foes with Virginia and played in Charlottesville May 4, with UVa earning a 10-5 win. Joe Van Meter is one of the nation’s top hitters, with a .433 batting average.
Virginia owns a 31-19 series advantage over VCU. The Cavaliers are 3-2 all-time against Ole Miss and 11-3 against St. John’s, having last played the Red Storm in 2005.
-UVA Sid Official Release
