NCAA BASEBALL TOURNAMENT YSU draws top-seeded Texas in regional

The Longhorns will make their 46th appearance in the tournament.
VINDICATOR STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
Youngstown State will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the No. 1-seeded University of Texas Friday at 8 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA baseball tournament.
YSU (22-30) will be making its first-ever trip to the tournament in the 50 year history of the program, while the Longhorns (50-13) enter as the top-seeded team in the country and will be making their 46th appearance in the tournament.
"I knew we were going to play one of the better teams, but right now our team has come together and is playing well," Youngstown State coach Mike Florak said.
Texas has won five NCAA championships, its last coming two years ago. The Longhorns are making their sixth straight NCAA tournament appearance.
"It still comes down to making pitches, putting the bat on the ball, catching the ball and running the bases," said Florak.
Coming up
The other teams in the regional are second-seeded Oral Roberts (48-9) and third-seeded Texas Christian (38-24). Those teams will play at 2 p.m. on Friday.
The losing teams from the first day return for an elimination game Saturday at noon, then the winners from Friday play at 4 p.m.
The winner of Saturday's first game and the loser of the second game then play at 8 p.m. The survivor of that game returns Sunday at 2 p.m. and, if necessary, at 5 p.m., for the championship and a trip to a super regional.
An NCAA-record nine Southeastern Conference schools received berths for the 64-team field, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
"The SEC this year was far and above stronger than any conference," committee chairman Charlie Carr said.
"There are so many good teams out there that there wasn't any one that was a slam dunk," Carr said of selecting the No. 1 seed. "Texas is a great team, had a great run, had an unbelievable record and deserved to be No. 1. That's not to say there weren't other teams that also could have been No. 1."
Good competition
The other national seeds, in order, are: South Carolina (45-15), Miami (44-11), Georgia Tech (41-19), Stanford (44-12), Rice (43-12), Arizona State (40-16) and Arkansas (39-21). Those schools would face each other only if they make the College World Series.
"There is very little difference between No. 1 and No. 8," said Carr, also the senior associate athletic director at Florida State.
Rice is trying to join Texas (1949-50), Southern California (1970-74), Stanford (1987-88) and Louisiana State (1996-97) as repeat national champions.
The Atlantic Coast Conference -- with Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Virginia -- and the Big 12 -- with Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A & amp;M and Texas Tech -- had the second-most teams with six.
Miami, in its last year as an independent, is making its 32nd straight appearance to extend its NCAA record. The Hurricanes will begin play in the ACC next season.
Eight teams, including YSU, are making their first NCAA tournament appearances. The others are Birmingham Southern, the College of Charleston, Jacksonville State, St. Bonaventure, Stony Brook, Texas Southern and UC Irvine.
The winners of each regional will advance to the super regionals, played June 11-13. The eight winners of the super regionals will play in the College World Series, which starts June 18 in Omaha, Neb.