May 17, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame has been selected as one of 16 regional sites for the 1999 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, as announced by the NCAA baseball executive committee.

Notre Dame will play host to the four-team, double-elimination regional at Frank Eck Stadium with games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 28-30. Game are scheduled on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. EST, on Saturday at 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. EST with the championship round on Sunday with a game at 1:00 p.m. EST and 6:00 p.m. EST if necessary.

The entire 64-team tournament field and pairings will be announced live on ESPN, on Monday, May 24, at 2:00 p.m. EST. Notre Dame’s being awarded a home site guarantees the Irish a place in the tournament and will play in the South Bend regional. This is the first year that the NCAA tournament will have 64 teams, as previous tournaments have had 48 teams.

“Being able to play host to an NCAA regional is a special tribute to our players, who have endured much adversity this season while playing many tough games,” says Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri. “Clearly, this is a special moment for the Notre Dame baseball program and the South Bend community. We are happy to provide this chance for the local community to come out and share in the excitement of college baseball. Overall, we felt very worthy of this honor and are excited to begin a new chapter in the history Notre Dame baseball.”

Notre Dame is one of six schools who will be hosting an NCAA Baseball Regional for the first time, since the tournament shifted from a district to regional format in 1975. Notre Dame previously played host to NCAA tournament games following the 1949 and 1959 seasons.

This year’s Irish team has an overall record of 41-14, won the BIG EAST regular season title with a league mark of 20-5 and is currently ranked No. 25 in the country in the USA Today/ESPN poll. Notre Dame plays West Virginia on Wednesday in the first round of the BIG EAST tournament in Trenton, N.J., at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

The winner of the South Bend regional will advance to the Super Regional round, which will feature eight best two-of-three series on June 4-6. The eight Super Regional winners then will advance to the College World Series, to be held June 11-19 in Omaha, Neb.

Tickets for the South Bend Regional may be purchased beginning Wed., May 19, at the Notre Dame Joyce Center Ticket Office or by calling (219) 631-7356 for credit cards orders. Tickets must be purchased on a single-game basis or as an entire regional package and a new ticket will be required for every game (including a potential second title game on Sunday).

Single-game prices are: $7.00 for adult reserved, $5.00 for adult general admission and $3.00 for college students and youth. Complete ticket packages for the entire regional are available for the following prices: $30.00 for adult reserved, $22.00 for adult general admission and $14.00 for college students and youth.

Other regional sites will be: Miami (Fla.), Florida State, Wake Forest, Ohio State, the University of Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Houston, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Wichita State, Southern California and Stanford.