PonyFans.com

5/26/2008



The Patriots Baseball Team has been selected to play in the NCAA Division I National Tournament for the first time in school history. DBU, who has exceeded all expectations during the 2008 season under the guidance of first year Head Coach Dan Heefner, finished their regular season 37-17 and 29 in the National RPI rankings.

Head Coach Dan Heefner said, "To earn an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional is an incredible achievement for the DBU baseball program."

DBU, who has a long tradition of successful baseball, with 30 straight winning seasons, is only in their third year of NCAA Division I competition. The Patriots had to play one of the toughest schedules in the nation during 2008 in order to have a chance at receiving an at large bid, since they are an NCAA Division I Independent Team. DBU is also the first Independent team other than Miami to make a NCAA Regional since 1992.

The Patriots, who played several nationally ranked teams throughout the season, had five wins over top 25 teams, including Rice (2), Oral Roberts (2), and Texas A&M (1). All five wins were at a neutral site or on the road. DBU also had notable victories against Baylor, a three game sweep of Memphis, two wins over Louisiana Monroe, and were 3-0 against UTA, who defeated Texas A&M, Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma State.

The selection committee awarded DBU for their successful season by selecting them as a #2 seed at the NCAA College Station Regional. The Patriots, will play the University of Houston, who is the #3 seed on Friday, May 30, at 12:30 to kick off their Regional Tournament. Texas A&M University, who is the #1 seed, will play the late game on Friday against Illinois-Chicago, the #4 seed, to wrap up the first round games.

Heefner continued, "Our players earned it- they practiced at a high level from day one and played well all season against many of the top teams in the country. I couldn't be more proud of our players- they deserve all the credit."

www.dbu.edu/athletics

That's awesome. Congrats on a great season, guys! Go get 'em!

I posted a similar message on 'Other Sports' forum.

Instead of congratulating DBU, shouldn't we be congratulating the 5 Conference USA teams that made the NCAA tournament?

DBU - com'n guys - we're Methodists!!!

PonySoprano is right.

And shouldn't we be asking ourselves: If Dallas Baptist can field a successful baseball program, why can't SMU?

We are missing out by not having baseball. Baseball would fill a spring sports void for SMU and potentially be a great marketing tool.

Baylor, TCU and Rice can all field winning baseball programs in a private school environment. Why can't SMU?

Yes, I do miss the ping of titanium bats in the springtime.

from Conference USA home page:

Conference USA has received five bids to the 2008 NCAA Baseball Championship, as announced by the Division I baseball committee on Monday. Rice will host the Houston Regional as the No. 6 national seed, while Southern Miss will be the No. 2 seed in Baton Rouge, La., East Carolina will be the No. 2 seed in Conway, S.C., Houston will travel up the road to College Station, Texas, where it will compete as the No. 3 seed and Tulane will play in Tallahassee, Fla. as the No. 3 seed.

The five bids tie for the most in C-USA history, matching the five selections during the 2002 season. Only the SEC (9), ACC (6) and Big 12 (6) had more bids than Conference USA.

Rice (42-13) again owns one of the best records in college baseball and has been ranked in the top 10 of the polls all season long. The Owls won the regular season Conference USA title for the third straight year, finishing with a 21-3 record in league play. Rice will be hosting a regional for the seventh time in eight years as it makes its 14th consecutive NCAA appearance. The Owls will open regional play against a familiar foe from up the road when it battles Southland Conference champion Sam Houston State (37-23) in its first game on Friday night. The teams split a pair of regular season meetings, with the home team winning both games. The Owls will then play either No. 2 seed and Big 12 Tournament champion Texas (37-20) or St. John's (41-14), regular season champs of the Big East Conference.

Southern Miss (40-20) will be playing in the NCAA Championship for the sixth consecutive season. The second-seeded Golden Eagles are matched up with third-seeded New Orleans (42-19) in the second game on Friday. The two teams squared off twice in the regular season, with the visiting team winning each game. SEC Tournament Champion LSU (43-16-1), winners of 20 consecutive games, will play SWAC Tournament champion Texas Southern (16-32) in the first game of the day game at historic Alex Box Stadium.

East Carolina (40-19) will be in the NCAA Championship for the ninth time in 10 seasons as it travels to Conway, S.C. The Pirates will play Alabama (34-26), an at-large choice from the Southeastern Conference, in its opening game. Host Coastal Carolina (47-12), which has produced the second-most wins in the nation, will play Ivy League champion Columbia (22-28), in the other Friday game in that regional.

Houston (39-22) is in the field for the seventh time in 10 years after winning the C-USA Tournament in New Orleans. The Cougars will be the No. 3 seed at the College Station Regional and will face Dallas Baptist (37-17), which became the first Independent school other than Miami (Fla.) since 1992 to receive a bid to the NCAA Championship. Host Texas A&M (43-20) won the regular season Big 12 championship, but enters the NCAA's having lost nine of 10 games. The Aggies will square off against Horizon League regular season and tournament champion Illinois-Chicago (34-20) in its first day game.

After a one-year absence, Tulane (37-20-1) is back in the NCAA field for the 10th time in 11 years. The Green Wave will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to face Florida (34-22), an at-large SEC selection. Florida State (48-10), the No. 4 National Seed, will play Patriot League Tournament Champion Bucknell (29-22-2) in the regional's other contest.

Casey wrote:Yes, I do miss the ping of titanium bats in the springtime.

The pings didn't seem to bother the Rice folks when they won a CWS title in 2003...or the Baylor people when they went to the CWS in 2005. There aren't many sports where Rice and Baylor can compete at an elite level alongside UT and A&M, but baseball is one of them.

And I imagine the pings of metal bats are music to the ears of the folks at Dallas Baptist right now. When's the last time Dallas Baptist got any media attention? Now they're on the local sportscast every night - when they're not doing a story on TCU's NCAA-bound baseball team.

Metal bats don't seem to bother anyone at the high school level, either. You can't find a seat at a local playoff game this time of year. If you only watch wood-bat baseball, you're missing out on a lot. Metal bats don't mean it's tricked-up baseball.

Women's fast-pitch softball, now that's tricked up. But any sport that produces a Jennie Finch is one that SMU should seriously pursue.