2011 Charlottesville Regional

1. Virginia Cavaliers (1)

Charlottesville, Virginia

Automatic bid – won ACC tournament

2011 record: 22-8, 49-9 (tied for first in Coastal Division)

Head coach: Brian O’Connor (Creighton, 1993)

Record at school: 365-127-1, 8 years

Overall record: Same

Assistant coaches: Kevin McMullan, Karl Kuhn, Eddie Smith

Team offense: .303 BA, 414 R, 20 HR, .415 SLG%, .388 OB%, 79-109 SB

Team pitching: 2.34 ERA, 520 IP, 393 H, 133 BB, 571 K

Top hitters: David Coleman (.374/2/35), John Hicks (.338/6/50/19 2B), Steven Proscia (.333/7/53/17 2B/11-16 SB), Kenny Swab (.313/0/25/15 2B/11-12 SB), Chris Taylor (.293/2/42/15 2B), John Barr (.290/0/30/14 2B)

Top pitchers: Danny Hultzen (10-3, 1.59, 96.1 IP, 66 H, 16 BB, 136 K), Will Roberts (10-1, 1.78, 86 IP, 63 H, 12 BB, 76 K), Branden Kline (3-0, 17 SV, 1.85, 34 IP, 23 H, 17 BB, 46 K), Tyler Wilson (7-0, 2.41, 82 IP, 55 H, 20 BB, 104 K), Cody Winiarski (6-3, 3.25, 69.1 IP, 55 H, 20 BB, 52 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2010 (3-1 at Charlottesville Regional, 1-2 at Charlottesville Super Regional)

Notes: Virginia is in a regional for the eighth straight year, the longest streak in school history. It is the fifth time the Cavaliers have hosted since 2004. UVa fell into a first-place tie in the Coastal Division with Georgia Tech the final weekend of the season when swept at North Carolina. But the Cavs bounced back and won the ACC tournament, going 3-0 in pod play before defeating Florida State 7-2 in the title game. Virginia is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and on top of the CBI Composite Poll. Head coach Brian O’Connor pitched on the 1991 College World Series team at Creighton. He led the Cavaliers to Omaha in 2009. Junior lefty Danny Hultzen, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, is expected to be a top-five pick on Monday in the MLB Draft. Junior right-hander Will Roberts threw a perfect game against George Washington on March 29.

2. East Carolina Pirates

Greenville, North Carolina

At-large bid from Conference USA

2011 record: 14-10, 39-19 (third in C-USA)

Head coach: Billy Godwin (Atlantic Christian, 1986)

Record at school: 232-136, 6 years

Overall record: 494-221, 12 years

Assistant coaches: Dan Roszel, Nick Schnabel, Jesse Lancaster

Team offense: .299 BA, 322 R, 35 HR, .409 SLG%, .381 OBP, 48-73 SB

Team pitching: 2.58 ERA, 526 IP, 456 H, 173 BB, 459 K

Top hitters: Trent Whitehead (.332/4/29/20 2B/16-22 SB), Corey Thompson (.330/5/45), Philip Clark (.329/3/27/13-18 SB), Jack Reinheimer (.323/0/21), Chase McDonald (.302/3/26), Ben Fultz (.301/4/26), Zach Wright (.278/13/39)

Top pitchers: Brad Mincey (5-4, 3 SV, 1.55, 63.2 IP, 59 H, 16 BB, 52 K), Seth Maness (9-3, 1.88, 96 IP, 79 H, 15 BB, 76 K), Kevin Brandt (7-3, 2.26, 87.2 IP, 72 H, 26 BB, 60 K), Seth Simmons (6-2, 6 SV, 2.56, 31.2 IP, 27 H, 20 BB, 47 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2008 (4-1 at Greenville Regional, 0-2 at Chapel Hill Super Regional)

Notes: After a year off, ECU is back in the tourney field – the 11th time since 1999. The Pirates are back in Charlottesville, where they lost two of three games in February (they split 4-3 games to close the series). Coach Billy Godwin, who came to ECU from Louisburg College, ranks second to Gary Overton in school history in wins. Seth Maness ranks first in the NCAA in career wins among active pitchers with 37 and is sixth in strikeouts with 330. He leads a pitching staff that has a 2.58 team ERA – six pitchers have an ERA under 3. Outfielder Philip Clark, whose uncle is longtime Chicago Cubs scout Billy Swoope, is third on the team in hitting.

3. St. John’s Red Storm

Queens, New York

At-large bid from Big East

2011 record: 18-8, 35-20 (second in Big East)

Head coach: Ed Blankmeyer (Seton Hall, 1976)

Record at school: 548-325-3, 16 years

Overall record: same

Assistant coaches: Mike Hampton, Scott Brown, Brendan Monaghan

Team offense: .285 BA, 371 R, 37 HR, .410 SLG %, .382 OB %, 71-97 SB

Team pitching: 4.04 ERA, 487.1 IP, 468 H, 212 BB, 386 K

Top hitters: Joe Panik (.402/9/56/19 2B/21-25 SB), Paul Karmas (.319/5/40/20 2B), Jeremy Baltz (.312/6/58), Jimmy Brennan (.281/3/19), Pat Talbut (.279/1/9), Matt Wessinger (.274/6/42/15 2B/14-21 SB)

Top pitchers: Matt Carasiti (2-2, 7 SV, 2.52, 39.1 IP, 29 H, 26 BB, 37 K), Stephen Rivera (4-2, 4 SV, 2.68, 43.2 IP, 37 H, 16 BB, 37 K), Kyle Hansen (8-6, 1 SV, 2.70, 103.1 IP, 80 H, 39 BB, 105 K), Brendan Lobban (6-2, 4.04, 82.1 IP, 79 H, 35 BB, 54 K), Kevin Kilpatrick (4-3, 4.44, 71 IP, 84 H, 16 BB, 37 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2010 (3-2 at Charlottesville Regional)

Notes: St. John’s heads to the Charlottesville Regional for the second straight year. The Red Storm is making its 33rd NCAA tourney appearance and fourth in the past five years. Head coach Ed Blankmeyer, an Academic All-American, was the starting second baseman for the 1974 and 1975 Seton Hall teams that advanced to the College World Series. Junior shortstop Joe Panik, first team All-Big East, is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. A Finance major with a 3.78 GPA, Panik was recently named a third team Academic All-American. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Hansen was picked by Milwaukee in the 40th round of the 2009 MLB Draft. His older brother, Craig, also pitched at St. John’s and was a first-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2005. Sophomore Jeremy Baltz was chosen by the New York Yankees in the 45th round of the 2009 MLB Draft.

4. Navy Midshipmen

Annapolis, Maryland

Automatic bid – won Patriot League tournament

2011 record: 12-8, 33-23-1 (first in Patriot League)

Head coach: Paul Kostacopoulos (Providence, 1987)

Record at school: 182-136-4, 6 years

Overall record: 686-468-6, 22 years

Assistant coaches: Matt Reynolds, Ryan Mau, Rob McKinley

Team offense: .276 BA, 357 R, 21 HR, .382 SLG%, .372 OB%, 58-74 SB

Team pitching: 4.94 ERA, 484.1 IP, 534 H, 228 BB, 414 K

Top hitters: Taylor Cato (.342/0/14), Alex Azor (.332/0/33), Greg Dupell (.322/7/35), Dave Milanes (.304/3/48), Nick Driscoll (.272/2/29/15-19 SB), Jeff  Bland (.264/3/33), Brandon Beans (.263/0/21)

Top Pitchers: Joel Rinehart (2-2, 1.88, 6 SV, 48 IP, 35 H, 16 BB, 45 K), Preston Gainey (2-0, 2.40, 4 SV, 30 IP, 21 H, 15 BB, 36 K), Wes Olson (7-1, 2.51, 2 SV, 57.1 IP, 51 H, 15 BB, 43 K), Sam Long (5-5, 4.34, 74.2 IP, 87 H, 27 BB, 50 K), Ben Nelson (6-5, 4.64, 85.1 IP, 92 H, 16 BB, 77 K), Johnny Schoberl (5-1, 4.73, 51.1 IP, 55 H, 39 BB, 43 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2002 (1-2 at Winston-Salem Regional)

Notes: Navy won its sixth Patriot League title and first since 2002. In the six Patriot League tournament games, the Navy pitching staff had an ERA of 1.95 and opponent batting average of .208 with 50 strikeouts and 15 walks. The Midshipmen are making their eighth NCAA tourney appearance. Navy won the regular-season title as well and Paul Kostacopoulos was named Coach of the Year in the Patriot League. Kostacopoulos is taking his third team to the NCAA tournament, as he twice took both Providence (1992, 1995) and Maine (2002, 2005). Two-way standout Taylor Cato was named the league’s Rookie of the Year. The Patriot League has six wins in 15 NCAA trips, with half coming in the past three years. Bucknell knocked off No. 4 national seed Florida State in 2008, becoming the first Patriot League team to win an opening-round game. Army won twice in the Austin Regional a year later, falling to No. 1 national seed Texas in the finals. Navy defeated George Washington in its last NCAA appearance in 2002 in the Winston-Salem Regional. The senior class of Jeff Bland (Navy Supply), Nick Driscoll (Surface Warfare Officer), Sam Long (Marine Ground), Wes Olson (Navy SEALs), Luke Roberts (Naval Flight Officer) and Jonathan Wright (Naval Pilot) have combined for a school-record 115 victories, posting a win percentage of .547 (115-95-3).