NCAA: Bethune Cookman is 4th seed, Tallahassee Regional

MEAC Champions B-CU Wildcats to face Florida State Seminoles on Friday, 6 PM EST.

When the NCAA Baseball Committee revealed its at-large selections Monday, there was Alabama, number three seed, headed to Tallahassee. Joining Alabama (33-25) in the four-team field are number one seed Florida State (41-16), number two seed University of Central Florida (38-21), and number four seed Bethune-Cookman (35-22). The Seminoles are the number five national seed in this year's tournament. The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will play the winner of the College Station (Texas A&M) Regional in the Super Regionals next week.

A number three seed is much better than a number four. It means not playing the home-standing number one seed in the first game, and also means likely having the support of the home team in the two vs. three game. But that doesn't mean an easy time since the Tide will be playing a team that has already defeated Bama this year.

The double-elimination regional begins Friday at 11 a.m. (CDT), when Alabama plays Central Florida at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium. Florida State plays Bethune-Cookman on Friday at 5 p.m. (CDT). “It feels good to see our name up there, but it’s a really tough regional,” Crimson Tide Coach Mitch Gaspard said.

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Cal State Northridge rolls to win over Bethune-Cookman

COMPTON, Calif. -- Cal State Northridge kicked off the third annual Urban Invitational presented by the U.S. Army in a big way, beating Bethune-Cookman, 18-4, on Friday at the Urban Youth Academy. The three-day tournament, which also includes UCLA and Southern University and helps spotlight Historically Black Colleges and Universities by giving them national exposure, began Friday with a game billed as a pitchers' duel between the club's aces on the first day of the college baseball season.

It appeared that way for Bethune-Cookman left-hander Ali Simpson, as his club led, 4-0, after three innings with a pair of two-runs homers by Peter O'Brien and Matt Wright against Northridge right-hander Ryan Juarez. But Northridge overcame that early 4-0 deficit by breaking out in the sixth inning with nine runs and added five more in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach. All told, 12 different players had a hit for the Matadors as they club pounded out 20 hits.

"It was a little dicey there at the beginning because we made some mental mistakes," Northridge coach Steve Rousey said. "So early on, we weren't playing well, but I don't know if the guys loosened up or what, but it turned around."

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