HARRISONBURG, Va., May 26, 2008 – James Madison will be the #4 seed at the Raleigh, N.C. regional site and will open against host and top-seeded North Carolina State on Friday at Doak Field at Dail Park in the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
“My first reaction was that it’s close by so a lot of supporters and family members can go,” commented 11th-year head coach Spanky McFarland upon seeing the bracket. “I know we have a good alumni base down in Raleigh too so that’s good for everybody. That way we should have a nice crowd down there. The other thing I thought about immediately is that it’s an ACC school. We’ve played them before and we’ve beaten them before. So it’s not like we’re going to an SEC school or Pac 10 school with that element of not knowing anything about them.”
JMU (38-17) and N.C. State (38-20) will be joined in the regional bracket by #2 seed South Carolina (38-21) and #3 seed Charlotte (43-14). USC and Charlotte will open play Friday at 2 p.m. in game one followed by JMU & NCSU at 7 p.m. The losing teams will face off at 2 p.m. Saturday in game three and the winners at 7 p.m. in game four. Sunday will pit the winner of game three against the loser of game four in an elimination game at 1 p.m. The winner meets the winner of game four at 6 p.m. Game seven, if necessary in the double elimination format, would be Monday.
The winner of the Raleigh Regional will advance to meet the winner of the Athens, Ga. Regional in the Super Regionals round at a site to be determined. The Athens Regional includes Georgia (35-21-1), Georgia Tech (39-19), Louisville (41-19), and Lipscomb (32-28).
“We played Charlotte last year and South Carolina we’ve played before. We’re familiar with all of them. It’s not like a hidden commodity. We’ve played them all recently, so I guess we’ll just go down and see what we’ve got.”
Doak Field at Dail Park will be hosting an NCAA regional for the first time in the stadium’s 42-year history. N.C. State has hosted once before in 2003 when games were played in Wilson, N.C. due to renovations at Doak Field.
The CAA received two bids to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2004 as regular season champion, UNC Wilmington (42-15-1), received an at-large bid to the field of 64. The Seahawks are the #2 seed near the Dukes in Cary, N.C. along with #1 North Carolina (the #2 national seed), #3 Elon (43-16), and #4 Mt. Saint Mary's (21-32).
Tentative Schedule of NCAA Raleigh Regional
Friday, May 30th
2pm Game - #2 South Carolina vs. #3 Charlotte
7pm Game - #1 NC State vs. #4 James Madison
Saturday, May 31st
2pm Game - TBA, Loser Games 1 & 2
7pm Game - TBA, Winner Games 1 & 2
Sunday, June 1st
1pm Game - TBA, Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
6pm Game - TBA, Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Monday, June 2nd
1pm Game - TBA (if necessary), Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
TICKET INFORMATION
JMU has a limited supply of tickets for the Regional. Tickets are available for Friday's opener for $15 each and can be ordered online through the JMU ticket office or by calling (540) 568-3853. All ticket orders will be picked up at will call at Dail Park in Raleigh. Tournament packages and other general public tickets can also be purchased through N.C. State.
LIVE COVERAGE
Fans can catch free streaming audio coverage of each JMU game on MadiZONE. In addition, ESPN 1360 WHBG in Harrisonburg will carry Friday’s game live at 7 p.m. Additional games on Saturday and Sunday will either be carried on WHBG or on WSVA 550AM depending on availability and game times. Links for live stats will be available Friday.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Dukes will be making their seventh appearance in an NCAA regional, the first since appearing in the Columbia, S.C. regional in 2002. It is the third time entering as an automatic qualifier, the first time as the Colonial Athletic Association champion. JMU’s previous auto bids came in 1980 and 1981 as champion of the ECAC South. At-large berths came in 1983, 1988, 1995, and 2002.
JMU is 7-12 all-time in the NCAA tournament with four of the wins coming in 1983 when Madison became the only Virginia school to date to advance to the College World Series. The Dukes’ only NCAA victory since 1983 came in 2002 at Columbia with a 5-2 win over VCU. JMU also lost to UNC twice in 2002, having avoided the #1 seed Gamecocks of USC.
JMU has faced South Carolina twice in NCAA Regional play. The Gamecocks won 3-2 in the Miami, Fla. Regional in 1988. JMU topped USC 9-4 in 1983 in the Eastern Regional in Chapel Hill.
RPI ANALYSIS
The Raleigh Regional figures to be one of the toughest nationally, particularly when it comes to the balance of the field of four teams. With an RPI of 12, NCSU ranks 11th among the 16 #1 seeds nationally. South Carolina at #19 is fifth among the #2 seeds. Charlotte at #50 sits 14th out of 16 #3 seeds, and JMU is the second-best #4 seed with an RPI of 60. So the bracket of four includes a bottom five #1, a top five #2, a bottom five #3, and a top five #4. JMU is one of only two #4 seeds in the entire bracket with an RPI under 80. The top three seeds in every region are in the top 60 of the RPI. Looking at the average of the top three teams in each Regional, Raleigh ranks 14th out of 16. However, add in the fourth team in the mix, and Raleigh jumps up to the second-best average, meaning the Raleigh Regional statistically should have one of the most competitive fields one through four of any of the 16 brackets.
CAA RECAP
JMU entered the six-team CAA Championship as the #2 seed after finishing five games back of UNC Wilmington in the regular season. In the opener on Wednesday against #5 Old Dominion, freshman Turner Phelps pitched the first complete game of his career, limiting the Monarchs to five hits and striking out 10 in a 6-1 JMU win. Steven Caseres drove in five, including his second career grand slam. The Dukes faced #3 George Mason on Thursday in a winner’s bracket game with Justin Wood pitching seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Alex Foltz went 4-for-4, Caseres hit a three-run home run, and Trevor Knight drove in two with a solo home run. JMU then played Mason again on Friday to reach the championship game. The Dukes fell behind 9-3 after four innings but battled back and took command with an eight-run sixth inning to win 18-14. At one point, JMU outscored the Patriots 15-1. Foltz had four hits with three runs and five RBIs. Five JMU players had two hits and drove in two runs. Trevor Knight was the fifth JMU pitcher in the game and the only one to silence GMU, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings before the Patriots put up four in the ninth with the Dukes saving their pitching. In Saturday’s championship, junior Kurt Houck pitched the first complete game of his career, allowing just four hits and striking out six in a 6-1 win over #6 Towson. Knight drove in three and hit a solo homer. Foltz and Joe Lake each went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Foltz earned Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after hitting .647 (11-for-17) with seven runs and seven RBIs. Phelps, Houck, Knight, and Caseres joined him on the All-Tournament Team. Houck was later honored Tuesday by Ping!Baseball as a Spotlight Performance of the Week. Offense dominated much of the tournament, with a total of 182 runs scored in 10 games. JMU was the only team to find success on the mound, posting a 4.25 team earned run average with the other five teams all tallying a mark over 9.50. Only four pitchers in the tournament worked at least seven innings with three coming from JMU.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The Dukes will play the role of the late invitee to the party as N.C. State, South Carolina, and Charlotte met in 2007 in the Columbia, S.C. Regional. NCSU lost twice to Charlotte while the Gamecocks topped the 49ers twice to win the Regional.
#1 North Carolina State (38-20, 18-11 ACC)
Series History: JMU leads 2-0
Last Meeting: JMU 5, NCSU 2 (2/16/2002)
N.C. State is making its 22nd trip to the NCAA Regionals and sixth in a row, entering the field as an at-large selection ranked 27th nationally in the NCBWA poll. The key for the Wolfpack in 2008 is the pitching staff as NCSU ranks fourth nationally in both earned run average (3.41) and fewest hits allowed per nine innings (eight). Leading the pack is junior righthander Clayton Shunick. A candidate to be drafted in the first five rounds, Shunick is 7-5 on the season with a 2.12 ERA and .207 opponent batting average. He has struck out 100 batters and issued just 21 walks in 89 1/3 innings. Three other starters have ERAs under 4.50 while Jimmy Gillheeney has 10 saves and a 1.12 mark out of the bullpen. NCSU is hitting .301 as a team, led by six starters hitting .299 or better. JMU went 1-1 against the ACC this year, splitting with Virginia Tech.
#2 South Carolina (38-21, 15-15 SEC)
Series History: USC leads 8-1
Last Meeting: USC 7, JMU 6 (2/14/2003, Charleston, S.C.)
The Gamecocks are making their 24th appearance in the NCAA Regionals and ninth in a row. Ranked 26th by the NCBWA, USC finished in a tie for seventh in the SEC (fifth in Eastern Division). The SEC put nine of its 12 teams into the tournament, matching the NCAA record for selections from a conference. One of the more well-rounded teams in the field, the Gamecocks rank 111th nationally in batting average, 40th in earned run average, and second in fielding percentage. However, despite the low team average, USC ranks third nationally in home runs and boasts one of the top offensive infields in the nation. First baseman Justin Smoak (.377, 18 doubles, 21 home runs, 66 RBIs), short stop Reese Havens (.363, 12 doubles, 16 homers, 53 RBIs), and third baseman James Darnell (.310, 13 doubles, 18 homers, 78 RBIs) could all go in the first two rounds of the upcoming MLB draft. Phil Disher (.309, 10 doubles, 19 homers, 57 RBIs) adds pop at the catcher spot. Four starters have worked at least 65 innings, led by Nick Godwin with a 7-3 record and 3.02 ERA in 86 1/3 innings. JMU faced one SEC school in 2008, defeating Tennessee on the road in March 10-3.
#3 Charlotte (43-14, 19-8 Atlantic 10)
Series History: Tied 4-4
Last Meeting: Charlotte 8, JMU 3 (3/4/2007)
The 49ers are making their fourth overall appearance in the NCAA Championship and are competing in consecutive seasons for the first time after winning the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament. Charlotte is possible the most dangerous offensive unit in the Regional, ranking in the top 16 nationally in batting average, runs, and hits. Seven regulars are hitting at least .333 with Rob Lyerly hitting.367 with 25 doubles, 14 homers, and 73 RBIs and Chris Taylor belting .343 with 18 doubles, 19 home runs, and 69 RBIs. While the 49ers lost their dominant starter from a year ago in Adam Mills, who led the country in 2007 in ERA, Joe Yermal (8-1, 3.81 ERA), Zach Rosenbaum (5-2, 4.34 ERA), and B.J. Hagen (3-2, 5.08 ERA) still form a formidable rotation. JMU played Charlotte in a three-game series in 2007 at Kannapolis while getting swept in the series and outscored 29-14. The Dukes were 2-0 against the A10 in 2008, both wins coming against George Washington.
Courtesy: JMUSports.com
