Previewing the Eugene Regional

Despite getting swept by the in-state rivals at the end of the season, Oregon has shown enough to the tournament committee to receive the fifth seed overall. Now they will prepare for the first leg of the double-elimination NCAA tournament this weekend, hosting a bunch of first-place teams in their respective conferences.

Eugene, Oregon, will welcome schools from the states of California, Indiana, and Tennessee. It’s a diverse list that includes the Big West champion, Ohio Valley champion, and the Missouri Valley regular season champion. The winner of this regional will take on the winner from the Gary, Indiana, regional that his hosted by Purdue. Here are the schools:

(2)Cal State Fullerton Titans

• Record: 35-19 overall, 17-7 Big West
• Head Coach: Rick Vanderhook (1st season)
• Starting Ace: Dylan Floro  (#15, RHP)
  14 starts, 10-3, 2.66 ERA, 3 complete games, 68-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio
• Player to Watch: Carlos Lopez (#17, 1B)
  .327 average, 34 RBIs, 22 strikeouts, has started in all 54 games
• Team Batting Average: 27.8% / Team ERA: 3.09

Season notes: Have swept Utah Valley, defeated Texas A&M twice and TCU twice, however all of this happened earlier this year. After sweeping a bad Pacific team, the Titans went 5-5 to end the regular season against average-to-subpar talent in the Big West, excluding a non-conference meeting with UCLA (L 6-3).

(3)Indiana State Sycamores

• Record: 41-17 overall, 14-7 MVC
• Head Coach: Rick Heller
  2nd season, 76-36 overall
• Starting Ace: Dakota Bacus (#31, RHP)
  16 starts, 7-4, 2.37 ERA, 3 complete games, 89-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio
• Player to Watch: Jeremy Lucas (#32, C)
  .350 average, 52 runs and 77 hits (leads team), 52 RBIs, started in all 58 games
• Team Batting Average: 29% / Team ERA: 3.18

Season notes: Went 8-0 in the Bulldog Classic and Irish Classic, defeated Dallas Baptist twice, and lost at Purdue by just 2-1 in 10 innings late in the year. They are currently on a four-game losing streak, losing both of their games in the conference tournament.

(4)Austin Peay Governors

• Record: 38-22 overall, 19-7 OVC
• Head Coach: Gary McClure
  24 seasons, 712 wins (2nd all-time in OVC)
• Starting Ace: Zach Toney (#29, LHP)
  13 starts, 5-3, 2.89 ERA, 1 complete game, 82-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio
• Player to Watch: Greg Bachman (#5, 3B)
  .339 average, 84 hits, 16 HR, 67 RBI (all leads team), started in 59 games
• Team Batting Average: 29.5% / Team ERA: 4.65

Season notes: Beat Illinois State 3 of 4 times to open season. Defeated Arkansas State, Eastern Kentucky twice, have gone 9-3 in their last 12 games, including winning last four of conference tournament.

REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday, June 1st

• 2:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 1: Indiana State vs Cal State Fullerton
• 6:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 2: Austin Peay vs (5)Oregon

Saturday, June 2nd

• 2:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 3: Game 1 Loser vs Game 2 Loser
• 6:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 4: Game 1 Winner vs Game 2 Winner

Sunday, June 3rd

• 12:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 5: Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Loser
• 4:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 6: Game 5 Winner vs Game 4 Winner

Sunday, June 4th

• 6:00 p.m. (PT) – GAME 7: Game 6 Rematch (if necessary)

ESPNU and ESPN3 have national broadcast rights for the college baseball regionals, and the Eugene regional was not selected to be shown. Updates will be available as the week goes on to find how to listen to or watch the games.

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