Fourth-Seeded Clemson Opens CWS Against San Jose State

June 5, 2000

OMAHA, Neb. – Fourth-seeded Clemson will play San Jose State in the opening game of the 2000 College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium Friday at 3:00 PM, EDT, the NCAA baseball committee announced Monday.

Friday’s other game features Louisiana-Lafayette vs. eighth-seeded Stanford at 7:00 PM. Both Friday games will be televised by ESPN. Saturday’s games pit sixth-seeded Florida State vs. Southern California at 12:30 PM on CBS, while second-seeded LSU will face Texas at 7:00 PM on ESPN2.

The four teams that play Friday will not meet the four teams that play on Saturday until the championship game on June 17.

Only four of the national top eight seeds advanced to the College World Series. The even seeds, LSU (2), Clemson (4), Florida State (6) and Stanford (8) moved on while the odd seeds, South Carolina (1), Georgia Tech (3), Houston (5) and Arizona State (7), were beaten.

The Tigers, which are ranked third by both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America in this week’s polls, are making their ninth trip to the College World Series, while the Spartans are making their first-ever trip.

Clemson took two games from Mississippi State Friday and Saturday in Super Regional play at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, winning 11-4 and 9-4 to earn the trip to Omaha. The Tigers last appearance in the College World Series was in 1996 when they went 2-2 with wins over Oklahoma State and Alabama. The two losses were to Miami (FL).

San Jose State advanced by winning the Waco Regional (Baylor, Florida and Southwest Texas State) as the number three seed and then taking two wins at the Houston Super Regional. The Spartans beat Houston 5-3 on Friday and 3-2 in the rubber game on Sunday. The Cougars claimed the middle game by a score of 5-3.

Tickets for the College World Series are available by calling Nebraska TicketMaster at (402) 422-1212. When placing orders, fans should tell them they want to sit in the Clemson sections.