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Four Georgia teams get NCAA tourney invites
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NCAA Div I Baseball Regionals

Friday’s games

Greenville, N.C.

Game 1 — South Carolina (38-21) vs. George Mason (42-12), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — East Carolina (42-17) vs. Binghamton (29-20), 7 p.m.

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Game 1 — Coastal Carolina (46-14) vs. Kansas (37-22), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — North Carolina (42-16) vs. Dartmouth (27-16), 6 p.m.

Clemson, S.C.

Game 1 — Alabama (37-19) vs. Oklahoma State (32-22), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — Clemson (40-19) vs. Tennessee Tech (30-22-1), 7 p.m.

Atlanta

Game 1 — Elon (40-16) vs. Southern Mississippi (35-23), 3 p.m.

Game 2 —Georgia Tech (35-17-1) vs. Georgia State (39-20), 7 p.m.

Gainesville, Fla.

Game 1 — Miami (36-20) vs. Jacksonville (36-20), 1 p.m.

Game 2 — Florida (39-20) vs. Bethune-Cookman (32-26), 6:30 p.m.

Tallahassee, Fla.

Game 1 — Georgia (37-22) vs. Ohio State (40-17), Noon

Game 2 — Florida State (42-16) vs. Marist (31-26), 4 p.m.

Louisville, Ky.

Game 1 — Middle Tennessee (43-16) vs. Vanderbilt (34-25), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — Louisville (44-15) vs. Indiana (32-25), 7 p.m.

Oxford, Miss.

Game 1 — Missouri (34-25) vs. Western Kentucky (39-18), 4 p.m.

Game 2 — Mississippi (40-17) vs. Monmouth, N.J. (32-23), 8 p.m.

Baton Rouge, La.

Game 1 — LSU (46-16) vs. Southern U. (30-15), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Minnesota (38-17) vs. Baylor (29-24), 7 p.m.

Norman, Okla.

Game 1 — Arkansas (34-22) vs. Washington State (31-23), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Oklahoma (41-18) vs. Wichita State (30-25), 8 p.m.

Houston

Game 1 — Kansas State (41-16-1) vs. Xavier (38-19), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — Rice (39-15) vs. Sam Houston State (36-22), 7 p.m.

Fort Worth, Texas

Game 1 — Texas A&M (36-22) vs. Oregon State (35-17), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — TCU (36-16) vs. Wright State (33-28), 7 p.m.

Austin, Texas

Game 1 — Texas State (41-15) vs. Boston College (33-24), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Texas (41-13-1) vs. Army (34-19), 7 p.m.

Tempe, Ariz.

Game 1 — Oral Roberts (31-13) vs. Cal Poly (37-19), 5 p.m.

Game 2 — Arizona State (44-12) vs. Kent State (42-15), 10 p.m.

Irvine, Calif.

Game 1 — Virginia (43-12-1) vs. San Diego State (40-21), 7 p.m.

Game 2 — UC Irvine (43-13) vs. Fresno State (32-28), 11 p.m.

Fullerton, Calif.

Game 1 — Georgia Southern (42-15) vs. Gonzaga (35-16), 6 p.m.

Game 2 — Cal State Fullerton (42-14) vs. Utah (26-29), 10 p.m.

ATLANTA — Four Georgia teams were invited to the NCAA baseball tournament, and two of them will get a chance to face each other right away.

Georgia, Georgia State and Georgia Southern were added to the 64-team field on Monday, a day after Georgia Tech was named to host a regional.

The Yellow Jackets (35-17-1) will face Georgia State in the opening game Friday night. The Panthers (39-20) will be making their first appearance ever in the NCAA tournament.

"It’s a fantastic day for our baseball organization," Georgia State coach Greg Frady said.

"The opportunity to play in an NCAA regional is the culmination of a full body of work for the season. Seeing our named called on ESPN and going to our first-ever regional is a wonderful experience."

Georgia (37-22) will meet Ohio State (40-17) on Friday in a regional hosted by Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. That same day, Georgia Southern (42-15) will play at Fullerton, Calif., against Gonzaga (35-16) in a round hosted by Cal State-Fullerton.

Each regional field in the double-elimination format includes four teams, with games scheduled from Friday to Monday. The Super Regionals will be held the following weekend and the College World Series begins on June 13 in Omaha, Neb.

The entire Georgia State team and coaching staff watched the NCAA selection show at a restaurant near the downtown Atlanta campus.

The Panthers earned an automatic NCAA berth by winning the Colonial Athletic Association championship. They have already set a school record for most victories in a season and enter the tournament on an eight-game winning streak.

Georgia State is one of five teams making its first appearance in the tournament. The Panthers split two games with the Yellow Jackets this season.

"There is so much excitement and enthusiasm about our university and our athletic department, and it feels great to be a big part of that," Frady said.

Georgia Tech has been selected for the NCAA every season but two in the past quarter century. The Yellow Jackets advanced to the College World Series in 1994, 2002 and 2006 but are still seeking their first national title.

Elon and Southern Mississippi also were placed in the Atlanta regional.

Georgia will be making its 10th postseason appearance and the fifth under coach David Perno.

The Bulldogs have advanced to the College World Series in four of their last five NCAA appearances, losing to Fresno State in the finals at Omaha a year ago.

Marist is the fourth team in the Tallahassee regional.

Georgia Southern will be making its first NCAA appearance in seven years after winning the Southern Conference championship. The Eagles, who have won seven straight and 10 of their last 11 games, were placed in a regional that also includes Utah.

Coach Rodney Hennon was caught off guard when the second-seeded Eagles were sent to the other side of the country for a regional that includes three teams they have never faced.

"I don’t think we expected to go that far. Typically, in years past, they have kind of regionalized the brackets, but I think what it shows is that they rewarded us. They felt like we were deserving of a two seed," he said.

"I think it is exciting to play someone different and also to go somewhere different. So I think our kids are definitely excited about the opportunity to travel west. The only disappointing thing is that we have had such great support from our fans all year. I know it will be more of a challenge for a lot of our fans to get out there."

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