UCLA earns top seed in Oklahoma regional

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

Going into 90 degree heat in Oklahoma never looked more
appealing than it did for the UCLA baseball team Monday.

The co-Pac-10 champion Bruins were pleasantly surprised after
the NCAA tournament selection show when they were awarded a No. 1
seed in their four-team regional. UCLA will travel to Oklahoma,
where the host Sooners (39-21) hold the No. 2 seed. The
Bruins’ first game is against fourth-seeded Delaware (37-18),
while Oklahoma plays third-seeded Oral Roberts (48-13).

“We’re a little surprised by a No. 1 (seed),”
UCLA hitting coach Vince Beringhele said. “We thought we
would be a No. 2. Once you’re in the tournament, though,
they’re all good teams.”

The Bruins (35-24, 17-7 Pac-10) shared the conference
championship with Arizona State and Stanford after winning one of
three games at Stanford’s Sunken Diamond last weekend. UCLA
could have won the title outright had they won just one of the
final two games against the Cardinal after Friday’s 10-9
victory, but fell to the Cardinal 19-3 Saturday and 17-11
Sunday.

“They’re disappointed,” UCLA head coach Gary
Adams said. “But that’s the past. Now, you’re
starting out 0-0. I know its a cliche, but it’s a new
season.”

In fact, things really couldn’t have worked out better for
the Bruins. Even had they won their conference, they still would
not have hosted a regional because the regional sites were decided
before last weekend. The only question left was: would UCLA be
forced to play in a regional at Stanford or Cal State Fullerton, or
would they be rewarded for their strong conference play and be
shipped out to play a less difficult host?

Since the NCAA selection committee highly regards the quality of
the Pac-10, UCLA earned the reward of playing in a less difficult
regional ““ they get to face Oklahoma.

“The NCAA tries to keep it (the tournament bracket) more
regional, so we’re excited to be a No. 1 seed,”
Beringhele said.

Unlike UCLA, crosstown rival and fourth place Pac-10 finisher
USC (38-18) stayed in town and will play Virginia Tech in its first
game. But the Trojans are in Cal State Fullerton’s regional,
which also includes a tough opponent in Loyola Marymount. Those are
squads UCLA struggled with this year in non-league games. Because
of the tournament format, however, three of those teams won’t
make it to the next round.

“The Pac-10 is tougher, so we got a better seed. I’m
proud of our No. 1,” Adams said.

The college baseball tournament works differently from a single
elimination format. There are 64 teams divided into 16 regionals.
Each regional uses a double elimination format to eliminate three
of the four teams.

The winner of the four-team regional heads to one of eight
super-regional matchups. In the super-regionals, teams face off in
a best of three format. The winner then heads to the eight-team
College World Series in Omaha, Neb. which reverts back to a double
elimination format.