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This is the 34th time Arizona has advanced to postseason play.

By University Communications
May 28, 2008

The Arizona baseball team has earned a second consecutive NCAA regional appearance as an at-large team.

The Wildcats, who finished the regular season 38-17 overall and 12-12 in the Pac-10 Conference, are a top seed and will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face No. 4 seed Eastern Michigan in the opening round of the postseason. Regional site host Michigan is the No. 2 seed and No. 3 Kentucky rounds out the four-team subfield.

“After not getting selected as one of the 16 regional host sites it was nice to be recognized as a No. 1 seed,” Arizona head coach Andy Lopez said. “We’re looking forward to getting out to Ann Arbor, but we definitely have a stiff test in front of us with the three other schools in the regional.”

The Wildcats were sent to Wichita State last year and went 2-2 after playing in the regional title game.

In seven seasons under Lopez, the Wildcats have participated in five regionals (2003-05, 2007-08).

The 2008 postseason marks the 34th time the UA has advanced to play past the regular season. The 34 postseason invitations are the second-most in the Pac-10 Conference, trailing only 12-time national champion USC’s 40.

The Arizona baseball program has a long and storied history in the NCAA postseason. Including this year, the Wildcats have won 15 regional titles, one super regional title, made 15 appearances in the College World Series, won three national titles (1976, 1980, 1986) and finished runner-up at the CWS three times.

Ten Wildcat position players and eight pitchers have appeared in the postseason prior to this year. Senior left-hander David Coulon is the most experienced member of the team, having appeared in three regionals (2005, 2007-08) during his career.

Lopez is one of just nine active coaches on the Division I level with a national title to his credit (Pepperdine, 1992) and one of only three coaches in the history of college baseball to lead three different schools (Arizona, Florida, Pepperdine) to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. He has a 35-27 postseason record on the Division I level and a 40-32 career mark on both the D-I and D-II levels.