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Baseball regions

By ANTONYA ENGLISH and BRIAN LANDMAN
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 31, 2002

At Gainesville

WHEN/WHERE: Today-Sunday; Florida's McKethan Stadium.

TICKETS: Tournament reserved chairback $50; tournament reserved bleachers $40; individual game bleachers $8; individual game general admission or sideline bleachers $6; under 17 and students $4. To order tickets call the UF ticket office at (352) 375-4683, ext. 6800.

AT STAKE: The winner advances to Super Regions and faces James Madison, North Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth or South Carolina in a best-of-three series June 7-9.

FIRST-DAY SCHEDULE: Miami vs. Florida International, 3 p.m.; Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida, 7 p.m.

FLORIDA (No. 1 seed; 43-17): The Gators host their first region since 1998. Florida has won 19 of its past 25 games. Under first-year coach Pat McMahon, the Gators have eight more wins than last season (35-27). The Gators went 3-0 against Miami and Bethune-Cookman during the regular season, two of the three teams in this region. Mark Kiger leads the team, hitting .414, and Ryan Shealy has a team-high 21 home runs.

FIU (No. 2 seed; 41-18): This is the highest seed for the Golden Panthers. FIU has 40-plus wins for the sixth consecutive season and 10 in its past 14 games. FIU won two of three against Miami during the regular season, including a 9-7 victory this month. The leading starter in hitting is Tommy Duenas at .401.

MIAMI (No. 3 seed; 30-26): The Hurricanes are the defending national champions but just got over .500 in the final week of the regular season. UM extended its NCAA-record postseason streak to 30 since 1973. Senior second baseman Javy Rodriguez leads the team (.369). The Hurricanes are 138-62 in the postseason so they can't be counted out. They are 3-0 against FIU in postseason play.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN (No. 4 seed; 38-20): The Wildcats posted one of their best records in school history, including a win against Miami, 3-1 on May 4. B-CC makes its fourth consecutive trip to the region tournament after winning its fourth consecutive MEAC championship. B-CC has shown marked improvement in pitching this season. Two starters have 10 wins (Cesar Montes de Oca (10-2) and Helpiz Moises (10-3), and Jason Dooley has nine. The Wildcats are hitting .294.

At Tallahassee

WHEN/WHERE: Today-Sunday, Florida State's Dick Howser Stadium.

TICKETS: Complete weekend packages $40; single-game tickets $25. Call the Seminole ticket office at (850) 644-1830 or go to FSU's Web site at www.seminoles.com.

AT STAKE: The winner of the double-elimination tournament advances to the Super Regions and faces South Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State or Kent State in a best-of-three series June 7-9.

FIRST-DAY SCHEDULE: South Florida vs. Central Florida, 3 p.m.; Stetson at Florida State, 7 p.m.

FLORIDA STATE (No. 1 seed, 56-12): The Seminoles, the top national seed, have won 22 straight against some of the nation's best. Their formula has been simple: strong starting pitching with LHP Matt Lynch (13-1, 3.08 ERA) and RHPs Blair Varnes (8-3, 3.95 ERA) and former East Lake star Marc LaMacchia (10-1, 3.29 ERA), spectacular defense and solid hitting. SS Stephen Drew (.383, 14 HRs), 3B Ryan Barthelemy (.379, 17 HRs, 90 RBIs) and LF Tony McQuade (.371) lead seven regulars batting better than .300.

CENTRAL FLORIDA (No. 2 seed, 40-20): Freshman LF Dee Brown (.403, 55 RBIs), the former Hernando High star, and SS Mike Myers (.322, 54 RBIs) lead a potent lineup. The Knights have won their past 10 but are 12-14 away from home. One of those road losses came against opening-game opponent USF, which is 2-1 against UCF this season.

SOUTH FLORIDA (No. 3 seed, 33-27): The Bulls finished seventh in Conference USA, but have played to the level of their competition. They've been at their best against stronger teams. They beat Houston, a No. 1 seed, twice on the road and won two at Miami. Freshman 3B Jeff Baisley of from Land O'Lakes (.362, 61 RBIs) and senior CF Mike Barclay of Countryside High (.333, 56 RBIs) lead the offense. Former Leto High RHP Jon Uhl (9-4, 3.42 ERA) is the ace.

STETSON (No. 4 seed, 42-17): The Hatters figure to be one of the strongest No. 4 seeds in the 64-team field. C Chris Westervelt (.392, 16 HRs, 43 RBIs) and 2B/SS/RHP Andy Wilson (.374) lead a team that's hitting .324. That's tops among the teams here. LHP Roger Lincoln (12-3, 3.55 ERA) is the ace, and Wilson (3-0, 3.41 ERA, 12 saves) is a solid closer.

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