Auburn University will serve as a host site for the 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals, June 4-7.
This marks the fourth time in school history Auburn has been selected to host an NCAA regional.Auburn previously hosted the tournament in 1978, 1999 and 2003.
In just his second year as head coach, John Pawlowski led the Tigers to their first South Eastern Conference (SEC) Western Division title since 1995. Auburn finished the regular season at 40-19 with a 20-10 record in league play and earned its first postseason appearance since 2005 and 18th overall.
"It's nice having the opportunity to play at home," Pawlowski said. "It's a huge advantage for us: we know how the field plays, we get to sleep in our own beds, and it's a tribute of how hard they've worked."
Auburn was led this year by SEC player of the year and first baseman Hunter Morris. Morris led the SEC in hits (94), home runs (20), slugging percentage (.758) and total bases (188). Morris joins Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves as the only two Auburn players to win the award.
"It's exciting," Morris said. "A lot of work went into that award, but it's not the end of my hard work. I still need to get better."
The NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament is comprised of 64 teams selected on their individual resumes and with conference tournament champions that automatically qualify. The 64 teams are sent to 16 different regional sites where the four teams play each other in a double-elimination format.
The winners of the regional sites are sent to the super regionals where they play for a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Auburn will start its path to the super regionals Friday, June 4, against Jacksonville State University. Jacksonville State earned its way to the regionals by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The two teams previously met May 18 with Auburn winning 9-7. Second baseman
Justin Hargett said he knows his team will be ready.
"They're a good team with really good pitching, but nothing changes with us," Hargett said. "Regardless of who the team is, we will be ready."
Cory Luckie, who was just named SEC Scholar Athlete of the year, will get the start at pitcher in game one against Jacksonville State.
"(Luckie's) done a great job for us all year, and he certainly deserves that opportunity," Pawlowski said.
Joining Auburn and Jacksonville State in the regional are Conference USA winner Southern Miss and ACC at-large bid Clemson.
Auburn players and coaches believe the year's tough competition, in and out of conference, has prepared them for this tournament.
"Competing in the SEC will prepare you for anybody in the country," Morris said. "We also went out to Arizona State earlier in the year and played the No. 1 team in the tournament."
The SEC tied for the most schools in the tournament with eight. Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas were all selected to host regionals, while Alabama, LSU, Mississippi and Vanderbilt will start the regionals on the road.
If Auburn and Alabama both advance from the regionals, the teams would face each other next week in the super regionals.
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