May 26, 2008
From Bucknell Athletic Communications
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 2008 Patriot League champion Bucknell baseball team is headed to the Tallahassee Regional and will open the NCAA Tournament against regional host Florida State, it was announced on Monday afternoon during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN. The Bison will take on the Seminoles, who were tabbed the No. 4 seed in 64-team NCAA field, on Friday, May 30, at 7 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium.
Joining No. 4-Bucknell (29-22-2) and No. 1-Florida State (48-10) in the four-team, double-elimination regional are No. 2-Florida (34-22) and No. 3-Tulane (37-19-1). Winners of Friday's games will play on Saturday, May 31, at 7 p.m., while the losers of those contests will square off earlier that day at 1 p.m. Games five and six are slated for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 1, while game seven will be played the following day at 7 p.m., if necessary.
Bucknell, which entered the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 4 seed, swept No. 2 Navy in the best-of-three Patriot League Championship series to capture the fourth Patriot League title in program history, the first for the Bison since 2003. Bucknell battled back from five-run deficits in both victories over the Mids, taking game one, 7-6, and game two, 8-7. The winning runs for the Orange and Blue came in the ninth inning of each contest as Bucknell outscored Navy after the sixth inning 12-1 in the series.
The Bison have secured a League-record fourth NCAA trip, with the other three coming in 1996, 2001 and 2003 when the squad won its previous three PL championships. Bucknell played in the NCAA Regionals in each of those seasons -- at Florida in 1996, at Miami in 2001 and at Texas in 2003.
Fans who are unable to make the trip to Tallahassee will be able to follow the squad's NCAA Tournament action as live audio broadcasts from all of Bucknell's games will be available through BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com. Doug Birdsong, Bucknell's coordinator of radio, television, marketing and promotions, as well as the lead play-by-play voice of the Bison Sports Network, will serve as the play-by-play voice for all broadcasts, which will begin approximately 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
