Baseball Headed to Gainesville; Opens Regional at Florida
5/28/2018 12:46:00 PM | Baseball
The Lions (20-28) will take on No. 1 Florida (42-17) on Friday, June 1 at 1 p.m. No. 2 Jacksonville (39-19) will take on No. 3 FAU to round out the bracket.
NEW YORK – The Columbia baseball team earned the No. 4 seed at the Gainesville Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Lions (20-28) will take on No. 1 Florida (42-17) on Friday, June 1 at 12 p.m. on ESPN3. No. 2 Jacksonville (39-19) will take on No. 3 FAU (40-17) to round out the bracket.
The four teams will compete in a double-elimination tournament with the winners advancing to a best-of-three Super Regional to be held the following weekend at eight different sites.
Columbia earned its fourth NCAA Tournament berth in six years and will make its sixth appearance all-time after sweeping Yale in the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series on May 22-23. The Lions last trip to NCAA Regionals came in 2015 when they went 3-2 in Coral Gables and were one game shy of reaching the Super Regionals after being defeated by Miami on the final day of the event.
The Gators are the No. 1 overall seed in the 64-team tournament and are the defending National Champions. The Lions opened up the 2017 campaign at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium, with Florida earning a three-game sweep. UF will be hosting NCAA Regional action for the ninth time in 11 seasons.
McKethan Stadium has been the site of 15 NCAA Regionals during its existence, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Prior to the 1999 season, when the current NCAA Super Regional format was introduced, the Orange and Blue advanced to the CWS three times it hosted NCAA play: 1991, 1996 and 1998.
Both Jacksonville and Florida Atlantic were at-large selections. The Dolphins were the regular-season runner-up in the Atlantic Sun Conference, but fell in the conference tournament semifinals. The Owls finished third in Conference USA during the regular season, but advanced to the conference tournament finale.
TICKET INFORMATION
Beginning Tuesday, May 29, at 1:00 p.m., all fans can order tickets for the Regional Tournament using the following methods:
- Order online at www.FloridaGators.com/tickets, starting Tuesday, May 30, at 1:00 p.m.
- Order by calling one of the Ticket Office Specialists at (352) 375-4683, ext. 6800, or toll-free (800) 344-2867, option 2, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Order by visiting the Gator Ticket Office, located at Gate 1 of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Single-game tickets for the Regional Tournament will be sold beginning on Wednesday, May 30 at 8:30 a.m.
