The Ball State University baseball team has made the field of 64 teams that were invited to participate in the 2006 NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Cardinals (37-20) are fresh off a Mid-American Conference Tournament championship in which they went 4-0, and will be the No. 4 seed in the Lexington Regional, alongside the University of Kentucky, the College of Charleston, and the University of Notre Dame.-á
The Lexington Regional, a double elimination tournament, will be held this weekend at Cliff Hagan field in Lexington, Ky. This is the home field of the No. 1 seed Kentucky Wildcats, the Cardinals' opponent on Friday. The College of Charleston is the No. 2 seed, and they will play No. 3 Notre Dame.
BALL STATE-á
Ball State enters the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the field, winning 16 of their last 18 games. The Cardinals are led by All-MAC First Team selection Brad Miller. The first baseman leads the Cards in home runs with 21, and set a Ball State single-season record with 75 RBIs. Hitting right behind him is designated hitter Justin Rogers, an All-MAC second team selection who leads the team in batting average with .358 and has driven in 41 runs. The Cards also have a legitimate No. 1 starter in Ben Snyder, who went all nine innings last Wednesday in a victory over Western Michigan University in the first round of the MAC Tournament.-á
KENTUCKY
The Kentucky Wildcats (42-15) are led by Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and All-American Ryan Strieby. The first basemen led the conference with 75 RBIs, a .474 on-base percentage, a .718 slugging percentage and 21 doubles. Strieby was also third in the conference in home runs with 20. The Wildcats' lineup features a lot of additional power. Catcher Sean Coughlin and second baseman John Shelby each hit 17 homers and drove in 53 runs. Right fielder Collin Cowgill also had 16 home runs and 58 RBIs. The Wildcat pitching staff is anchored by Greg Dombrowski, who went 9-2 with a 2.82 ERA for the season.-á
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
The Cougars of the College of Charleston (43-15) come in as the Southern Conference champions, who also ran through their competition with a 4-0 record in the conference tournament. The Cougars play a different style of baseball, as many of their hitters hit for average rather than power. The lineup features a slew of .300 hitters, with center fielder Larry Cobb leading the way with a .365 average. Second baseman Chris Campbell bats in the two-hole and led the team in RBIs with 57 while hitting .329. The Cougars also may feature the best pitcher in the Lexington Regional. Nick Chigges is 10-1 with a 1.44 ERA and has given up only 16 runs the entire season.-á
NOTRE DAME
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (45-15-1) are coming off a Big East Conference championship, in which they defeated Louisville in the title game 7-0. Big East Player of the Year Craig Cooper leads the Irish with a .427 average, nine home runs, and a .665 slugging percentage. Cooper was also third on the team in RBIs with 41. The Irish had nine players earn All-Big East honors in all. Left fielder Matt Bransfield, a third-team selection, was second on the team with a .335 average, six home runs, and 43 RBIs. The pitching staff features Big East Pitcher of the Year and All-Big East first team selection Jeff Manship, who went 9-2 with a 3.09 ERA on the season. Joining Manship as a first-team selection is Jeff Samardzija, who was 8-2 and also serves as Brady Quinn's favorite target on the Irish football team.-á
Notre Dame and the College of Charleston open up Friday at 2 p.m., while Ball State and Kentucky follow at 7 p.m.
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