Clemson to Play Host to NCAA Regional For 11th Time

May 28, 2006

Clemson, SC – Sunday afternoon, Clemson was one of 16 schools selected to play host to an NCAA Regional for the 60th annual Division I Baseball Championship. The action will begin at Clemson’s Kingsmore Stadium on Friday, June 2. Four teams, including Clemson, will play in the Clemson regional with two games each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 2-4. An “if necessary” game would be played on Monday, June 5.

The teams that will be joining Clemson will be announced on Monday at 12:30 PM when the pairings are announced on ESPN.

Clemson was one of four ACC schools chosen to host a regional in the 64-team tournament. The other ACC schools are Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia. Five SEC teams will play host to regionals, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky. Big 12 teams Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma were chosen, while Rice, Cal-Fullerton, Oregon State and Pepperdine were also selected.

This is the 11th time since 1975 that Clemson has played host to a regional, second among this year’s schools, trailing only the 22 years by Texas. This is the second consecutive year that Clemson has played host to a regional and the ninth time in 13 years under Jack Leggett.

Ticket information will be announced on Monday. Call the Clemson ticket office at 1-800-CLEMSON for details.

Clemson has advanced to he Super Regional, or the College World Series through a regional tournament played at Clemson nine times, including each of the last six times Clemson has played host to a regional.

The Tigers are 30-7 all-time in home NCAA Tournament games, including a 27-5 record under Jack Leggett. Clemson is 16-1 in NCAA Tournament games at Kingsmore Stadium in the 21st Century with the only loss coming in a Super Regional game against Arkansas in 2002.

This will be the 10th time since 1988 that Clemson has been the number-one seed for a regional tournament, the seventh time Clemson has played host to a regional as a number-one seed. Clemson is 19-2 under Jack Leggett as a number-one seed at home with the only losses coming in 1994 to Notre Dame and Auburn.

Since the NCAA began seeding teams for the NCAA regionals in 1988, Clemson has a 26-6 record as a number-one seed, including an active victory streak of 17 consecutive games dating to the 1994 season, Jack Leggett’s first year.

Clemson enters the NCAA Tournament having won 19 of its last 20 games, including the ACC Championship in Jacksonville on Sunday, May 28 when it defeated NC State in the championship game, 8-4. This is Clemson’s best record in its final 20 games entering the NCAA Tournament in history. The 1991 and 1947 Clemson teams were 18-2 in their final 20 games prior to the NCAA tournament. Both of those teams advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

This is Clemson’s 20th consecutive year in the NCAA Tournament, the third longest active streak in the nation. Miami (FL) and Florida State, also from the ACC, are the only other schools with longer active streaks. Overall, this will be Clemson’s 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the sixth most appearances in NCAA history. Texas is the all-time leader as the Longhorns will make their 50th appearance this year.