Miami keeps regionals streak alive, Florida St. is No. 1 seed

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Posted 6:51AM on Tuesday, May 28, 2002

CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA - Despite its worst record since the days of President Johnson, defending national champion Miami kept its record streak of consecutive regional appearances alive Monday with a berth in the Gainesville regional. Meanwhile, Florida State was named the country's No. 1 seed for this year's tournament. With its 30th straight regional berth, Miami was one of nine Florida schools making the NCAA tournament. Two of the 16 regionals will be hosted by Florida State (56-12) and Florida (43-17). Miami players crammed into their Mark Light Stadium clubhouse Monday afternoon to watch the NCAA selection show and cheered upon seeing their team's selection. ``I knew we were on the bubble, and I didn't know whether we'd get in,'' coach Jim Morris said. ``The fact is we got in and I don't know exactly how that happened, but we got in and we're excited to be there.'' Hovering around .500 for most of the season, Miami (30-26) won its last five games to secure a winning season. It's Miami's worst record since a 19-18-1 mark in 1966. NCAA officials said the Hurricanes' schedule, which included 14 teams in this year's regionals, was the biggest reason for Miami's berth and not their reputation as a baseball powerhouse. The Hurricanes have won two of the last three College World Series titles. ``The main factor for Miami was they played 34 of their games against top 50 (in the RPI) opponents and so they had one of the strongest schedules,'' said Wally Groff, the chairman of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. Both the Tallahassee and Gainesville regionals host solely Florida teams. Due to post-Sept. 11 concerns, NCAA officials kept most teams closer to home. In Tallahassee, Atlantic Coast Conference champ Florida State will play host to Atlantic Sun champion Central Florida (40-20), South Florida (33-27) and Stetson (42-17). Winners of 22 straight, the Seminoles are making their 25th straight regional appearance, second only to Miami. ``We obviously have a tough regional,'' Seminole coach Mike Martin said. ``We know what it takes to get to Omaha and hopefully we can continue to play well to get back there.'' Florida International (41-18), Miami and MidEastern Athletic champ Bethune-Cookman (38-20) will play in Florida's regional in Gainesville. ``It's going to be a very difficult task to win this regional,'' Florida coach Pat McMahon said. ``Miami is going to play tough no matter what their record.'' The only Florida team with an out-of-state berth is Florida Atlantic (43-18). The Owls will travel to the Tuscaloosa regional, which includes Alabama, Auburn and Southeast Missouri State. The 16 winners of the four-team regionals advance to eight best-of-three super regionals, with those winners going to the College World Series in Omaha.