Flashes Heading to Missouri
5/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Kent, Ohio - The Kent State baseball team will be heading to Columbia, Missouri for NCAA Regional competition this weekend (June 1-4) as announced by the NCAA on Monday (May 28). The Golden Flashes will take on 11th-ranked Missouri Friday (June 1) in the opening round. Louisville and Miami (Fla.) round out the four-team Regional.
The Golden Flashes gathered in front of their big-screen television at the Olga Mural Clubhouse to watch the NCAA selection show on ESPN. Cheers rang out when the Missouri - Kent State matchup was posted and more applause came when the Flashes saw Louisville show up in the same bracket.
"Missouri's a great team who's played great teams teams all year long in the Big 12," said Head Coach Scott Stricklin. "It's going to be a challenge playing them in front of their home crowd against their number one pitcher. There will be a lot of emotion and electricity in the air and we're going to have to keep our emotions in check and play intelligent baseball."
The host Tigers are 40-16 overall and finished second in the Big 12 standings. Miami (36-22) earned the region's second seed after a strong season in one of the nation's toughest conferences (ACC) and Louisville (40-20) claimed the third seed. The Cardinals fell to the Golden Flashes 2-1 in 10 innings on March 11 at the Cardinal Classic.
"We're familiar with Louisville and they're familiar with us," said Stricklin. "And Miami's been to the World Series more than anybody else so it's going to be a challenge and our guys are looking forward to it."
"It's an incredible feeling," said MAC Tournament MVP Jason Patton on seeing his team's name show up on the selection show. "We're all ready to play right now."
Vanderbilt earned the top seed in the 64-team field. Winners of the Regional round will advance to play in the Super Regional round next week.
The Golden Flashes eighth appearance in an NCAA Tournament will begin at 6:30 Central Standard Time on Friday at Taylor Stadium.
Tickets for the competition are now available at www.mutigers.com.
