May 30, 2005

For the first time in school history, the Missouri baseball team will be making a third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have received an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals, as announced by the selection committee on Monday morning. They open the tournament against Arizona at 6 p.m. CST on Friday in Fullerton, Calif.

Missouri (39-21) is one of just two Big 12 Conference teams that have advanced to the NCAA Regionals in each of the last three seasons. Texas is the only other league school that holds that claim. This is MU's 17th trip all-time to the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the regional to be played in Fullerton, Calif. and will take on Arizona (37-19), the No. 2 seed in the tournament, on Friday. Cal State-Fullerton (41-15) is the top seed in the regional and will take on fourth-seeded Harvard in its first game of the regional.

All of the games of the Fullerton Regional will be televised on ESPNU.

Mizzou is just one win away from reaching the 40-win mark for the first time since the 1991 team went 41-20. Last week, MU advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City, Okla.