Catawba And Wingate Earn Bids To NCAA Baseball Championship

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Catawba College and Wingate University were part of the 48-team field selected to participate in the 2011 Division II Baseball Championship, the NCAA announced Sunday night. The top seed in the southeast region, Mount Olive College, will host the regional.

The Catawba Indians (40-13), an at-large selection, will be the #5 seed and will open play against Francis Marion (37-14), the #2 seed, on Thursday at 3 p.m. Francis Marion, a member of the Peach Belt Conference, also earned an at-large bid. Catawba is currently ranked #18 in the Collegiate Baseball national poll and will be making its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Catawba Indians won the South Atlantic Conference Regular Season title in 2011 and lost in the conference tournament championship to Wingate.

The Wingate Bulldogs are the #6 seed and play the #1 seed and host school, Mount Olive (41-7), in the first round at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The Bulldogs earned the South Atlantic Conference's automatic bid by winning the Conference tournament. This will be Wingate's first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 2001. Mount Olive, the winner of the Conference Carolinas tournament, also received an automatic bid the NCAA Championship.

The other two teams in the regional are #3 seed, UNC Pembroke (42-10), the winners of the Peach Belt Conference tournament and Columbus State (32-17), the #4 seed and an at-large selection also from the Peach Belt Conference.

Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for children under 12. Four-day tournament passes are $30 for adults and $15 for children under 12.

The winner of the double-elimination tournament will advance to the Division II World Series, which will be held in Cary, N.C., May 28 - June 4.

Tournament website: http://www.moc.edu/index.php/2011-ncaa-ii-baseball-southeast-regional

Thursday, May 19, 2011
11 a.m. Game 3: No. 3 UNC Pembroke vs. No. 4 Columbus State
3 p.m. Game 2: No. 2 Francis Marion vs. No. 5 Catawba
7 p.m. Game 1: No. 1 Mount Olive vs. No. 6 Wingate

Friday, May 20, 2011
11 a.m. Game 4: Loser game 1 vs Loser game 2
3 p.m. Game 5: Winner game 1 vs Loser game 3
7 p.m. Game 6: Winner game 2 vs Winner game 3

If four teams remain after Game 6
Saturday, May 21, 2011
11 a.m. Game 7: Winner game 5 vs Winner game 6
3 p.m. Game 8: Winner game 4 vs Loser game 6
7 p.m. Game 9: Winner game 8 vs Loser game 7

Sunday, May 22, 2011
1 p.m. Game 10: Winner game 7 vs Winner game 9
5 p.m. Game 11: If necessary, same teams as in Game 10

If five teams remain after Game 6
Saturday, May 21, 2011
11 a.m. Game 7: Loser game 5 vs Loser game 6
3 p.m. Game 8: Winner game 4 vs Winner game 5
7 p.m. Game 9: Winner game 6 vs Winner game 7

If two teams remain after Game 9
Sunday, May 22, 2011
1 p.m. Game 10: Winner game 8 vs Winner game 9
5 p.m. Game 11: If necessary, same teams as in Game 10

If three teams remain after Game 9
Sunday, May 22, 2011
1 p.m. Game 10: Winner game 8 vs Loser game 9
5 p.m. Game 11: Winner game 9 vs Winner game 10