June 14, 2007

UCI to open against ASU in World Series

All games to be televised nationally.

IRVINE WORLD NEWS

The game times and pairings for the first two days of the NCAA College World Series have been announced.
The 61st MCWS will be played at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha from June 15-25.

UC Irvine will open Saturday at 11 a.m. against Arizona State (ESPN live).

The double-elimination tournament features the winners of the eight super regionals, and includes four teams that did not make it to Omaha last year and two teams (Louisville and UC Irvine) making their first-ever trip to the Men’s College World Series.

The first game on Friday is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and features No. 2 national seed Rice (54-12) and first time MCWS participant Louisville (46-22).

Friday’s second game pits No. 3 North Carolina (53-13) against Mississippi State (38-20), and is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. North Carolina was the runner-up at the 2006 MCWS, while Mississippi State is making its first MCWS appearance since 1998.

The doubleheader on Saturday features UC Irvine (45-15-1) squaring off against No. 5 Arizona St. (46-13) at 11 a.m. and the defending national champions, the Beavers of Oregon St. (44-18) will take on Cal St. Fullerton (38-23) at 4 p.m.

The losers of Friday’s two games will play one another at 11 a.m. on Sunday, while Friday’s winners face off at 4 p.m. Sunday. The losers of Saturday’s games will play each other at 11 a.m. on Monday, while Saturday’s winners meet Monday at 4 p.m.

The winners of the two brackets will play a best-of-three championship series, with the first game set for 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 23. The second game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, while the third and deciding game (if necessary) is slated for 4 p.m. on Monday, June 25. Every College World Series game will be televised live by ESPN or ESPN2, and all are available in high definition.

Radio station KUCI (88.9 FM) will also provide coverage with Mark Roberts calling the play-by-play.
For updates on UC Irvine’s games in the College World Series, please go to our web page at
irvineworldnews.com.