May 12, 2012
After securing an automatic bid by winning a conference-record seventh BIG EAST Championship crown, St. John's (37-21), which is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season, was selected as a No. 3 seed and is headed to the Chapel Hill Regional. Hosted by the No. 6 national seed North Carolina Tar Heels, the four-team regional also includes No. 2 seed East Carolina and No. 4 seed Cornell.
The NCAA Tournament appearance is the 34th in program history, a mark that ranks tied for eighth all-time.
"I like this regional because we have some familiarity with two of the teams having played North Carolina earlier this season and having matched up with ECU in the tournament last year," said head coach Ed Blankmeyer, who is leading St. John's to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time and seventh time in the past nine seasons.
North Carolina (44-14) received an at-large bid and is one of seven ACC teams in the field, while East Carolina (35-22-1), one of four Conference USA teams in the bracket, also received an at-large bid. Cornell (31-15-1), which is appearing in its first NCAA Tournament since 1977, won the Ivy League championship to earn an automatic bid.
"I just want our guys to continue playing good baseball," added Blankmeyer. "We just have to stay the course and we're going to fine because we've got a good club."
St. John's will open NCAA Tournament play against ECU at 1 p.m. on June 1 at Boshamer Stadium.
St. John's NCAA Tournament Central
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