The field is set, and today marks the opening round of regional play in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. And unlike last year and the 45 years previous to that, the University will have a team vying for the national championship.
The Oregon Ducks (38-22) will play regional host Connecticut (47-14) at 4 p.m. PDT in game two of the bracket and will try to advance in the double-elimination format.
“The players have grown up a lot,” head coach George Horton said. “I don’t know if they are ready yet to go deep in the playoffs, but my staff knows how to dance the dance. The fun thing will be going to that dance, and hopefully we can be successful and keep on playing for two or three more weeks.”
Oregon’s opponent, the Connecticut Huskies, are a surprise team in this year’s bracket. The team finished second in the Big East and used a mid-season 22 game winning streak to spring into the national spotlight. And even as the No. 2 seed in the Norwich, Conn., Regional, they will be a formidable team with the backing of the home crowd.
“It’s a little bit of a disadvantage,” Horton said. “They’ll have a favorable crowd and we will be the visiting team, but if you can get through that, the advantage is that you get to play the No. 1 seed as the home team the next game.”
Connecticut is led by Mike Nemeth, a junior first baseman. He hit .380 on the year, racking up 92 hits, 14 home runs and 80 RBI. The Huskies have nine players batting over .300, but pitcher Scott McGough and the team are confident. The last two years have been a roller coaster ride, and they want to make the most of their first experience.
“It’s just awesome,” McGough said. “There’s not much you can say now. The teamwork from these past few years has finally paid off … hopefully we can make something special happen.”
Excitement was palpable on Monday when the pairings were announced, but it’s a trap that Horton doesn’t want his team falling into. His goal this week was to prepare them for the unexpected moments, and catcher Eddie Rodriguez thinks they will be ready.
“I’m very excited, but it’s one of those things where you can’t let the emotions get to you because you’ll start freaking out,” Rodriguez said. “We just have to go out and take every game the way we have all year.”
The other two teams in the bracket are No. 1 seed Florida State (42-17) and No. 4 seed Central Connecticut State (33-21). Florida State tied for first in the Atlantic Division of the ACC at 18-12, while Central Connecticut State comes from the Northeast Conference.
Horton had nothing but good things to say about Florida State’s head coach Mike Martin, who has been to the College World Series 13 times and led the Seminoles to 33 straight regional appearances.
“Mike Martin and I go back to my associate head coach days,” Horton said. “He’s been to the CWS a number of times. That’ll be one of the tough missions there as well. They are a tough and well-coached team.”
After Friday’s game, the Ducks will either play at 11 a.m. PDT or 3:30 p.m. PDT. The later time is reserved for the winner’s bracket. The way the bracket works, the two losers play in the consolation round, and the loser of that game is out. Then the loser of the second game in the winner’s bracket plays the winner in the consolation bracket, and the loser of that game is done. From there the remaining two teams will play until one of them has two losses.
Game five of the regional will be played on Sunday at 11 a.m. PDT, and game six will be at 3:30 p.m. There will be a game Monday if necessary.
The goal for Horton and his team is to avoid the loser’s bracket and not put a strain on the pitching staff by having to play two games in one day on Sunday. They may be a three seed, but that’s only on paper. They feel like they can make a run.
“I don’t think we are just happy to be one of the 64 teams,” Horton said. “It’s a balance between smelling the roses and enjoying the environment and getting down to business. There are four great teams, and 64 great teams that all think they can win it.”
“Horton has molded us into that team,” Rodriguez said. “We battle. That’s what you have to do in Omaha.”
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