It's tournament time. Today's NCAA regional action at Plainsman Park looks like this:- 3 p.m. ET: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Southern Miss
- 7 p.m. ET: No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 4 Jacksonville State
I wrote a story about how Auburn is not taking Jacksonville State lightly. You can read it right here. I also wrote a notebook for today's paper, starting out with a look at Auburn coach John Pawlowski's connection with Clemson coach Jack Leggett (pictured with Pawlowski, right), who gave him his coaching start back in 1994.
I'll be blogging from the game tonight, so check back for updates. Also, follow the blog on Twitter.
Here's a closer look at the teams involved in the Auburn regional:
AUBURN TIGERS
- S
eed: 1 - Record: 40-19
- NCAA tournament appearances: 18
- Last appearance: 2005
- First pitcher: LHP Cory Luckie, So. (6-4, 5.68 ERA)
- Three to watch: 1B Hunter Morris, Jr. (.392, 21 HR, 17 2B, 70 RBI), LF Brian Fletcher, Jr. (.359, 20 HR, 15 2B, 70 RBI), CF Trent Mummey (.371, 15 HR, 10 2B, 37 RBI)
- The facts: The Tigers won the SEC West division title for the first time since 1995 and are hosting an NCAA regional for the first time since 2003. … Auburn went 27-7 in games at Plainsman Park this year. … The Tigers led the SEC in batting average (.348), slugging percentage (.585), on-base percentage (.424), runs (538), hits (750), RBIs (504) and home runs (117).
- Coach John Pawlowski says: “We haven’t been in postseason play, haven’t been in a regional. I think these guys understand that the game is going to be the same. I think the experience and leadership and the guys that have been around, even though we haven’t been in this situation, they understand what the expectations are.”
Seed: 2- Record: 38-21
- NCAA tournament appearances: 35
- Last appearance: 2009
- First pitcher: RHP Scott Weismann, So. (6-2, 5.47 ERA)
- Three to watch: SS Brad Miller, So. (.373, 7 HR, 17 2B, 37 RBI), RF Kyle Parker, Jr. (.364, 19 HR, 57 RBI), 2B Mike Freeman, Sr. (.328, 7 HR, 20 2B, 51 RBI)
- The facts: Clemson is ranked as high as No. 16 in the national polls. … Clemson advanced to a super regional last year before losing to Arizona State. … The Tigers’ 35 tournament appearances are the sixth most in NCAA history.
- Coach Jack Leggett says: “You have to be razor’s edge sharp to win this tournament because you have some teams in here where anybody can beat anybody. I’ve been in enough of these tournaments. I know that every game you cannot look past anybody. You have to respect everybody, and you better be ready to play every time.”
Seed: 3- Record: 35-22
- NCAA tournament appearances: 11
- Last appearance: 2009
- First pitcher: RHP Scott Copeland, Sr. (11-0, 3.38 ERA)
- Three to watch: SS B.A. Vollmuth (.378, 17 HR, 17 2B, 68 RBI), RHP Todd McInnis, Jr. (6-5, 3.15 ERA, 86 K, 33 BB), RHP Collin Cargill, Jr. (3-2, 1.86 ERA, 9 SV, 27 K)
- The facts: The Golden Eagles went 3-1 last week in the Conference USA tournament, upsetting top-seeded Rice to capture the title for the first time since 2003. … Southern Miss won 17 of its last 22 games.
- Coach Scott Berry says: “It wasn’t easy getting here. I think this team showed a lot of character. At one point, our team was dead last in our conference. … I think that we’ve taken some experiences from last year’s run.”
Seed: 4- Record: 32-24
- NCAA tournament appearances: 3
- Last appearance: 2006
- First pitcher: RHP Austin Lucas, Sr. (6-0, 4.97 ERA)
- Three to watch: OF Todd Cunningham, Jr. (.352, 10 HR, 16 2B, 21 SB), 2B Bert Smith, Sr (.371, 11 2B, 34 SB), OF Daniel Adamson, Sr. (.348, 13 HR, 53 RBI)
- The facts: Jacksonville State won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament last week to qualify for the NCAA tournament. … They have stolen 91 bases this year, a school record. … Cunningham, a first-team OVC selection, could be a first-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft, which starts Monday.
- Coach Jim Case says: “The feel will be very much like the feel in the SEC. The advantage goes to (Auburn) in that behalf because they’ve been in it 10 times this year. We haven’t really experienced that type of atmosphere.”
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