CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Florida, Florida State and Miami have all punched their tickets to the NCAA baseball tournament.
Miami earned the No. 6 national seed and will host second-seed Arizona, third-seed Mississippi and fourth-seed Canisius in the Coral Gables regional, while Florida earned the No. 13 national seed and will host No. 2-seed Oklahoma, No. 3-seed Liberty and No. 4-seed Central Michigan in the Gainesville regional, the NCAA tournament selection committee announced Monday.
Each regional is a four-team, double-elimination format, with the winner advancing to a best-of-three super regional.
Miami (39-18), ranked No. 6 in the USA Today coaches poll, finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division – at one point in the season reeling off 14 consecutive wins – but dropped back-to-back games against North Carolina State and Wake Forest in the ACC tournament.
The Hurricanes are 28-8 at home this season and have made three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances under head coach Gino DiMare, who took over for Jim Morris after the 2018 season.
If the Hurricanes win their regional, they'll stay home to face the winner of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, regional in a super regional at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
The No. 22 Gators (39-22) lost to No. 1 overall seed Tennessee 8-5 in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game Sunday, but their runner-up status cemented a second straight regional at Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field in as many seasons as it's been open.
This will mark Florida's 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance under Kevin O'Sullivan, who led the Gators to a College World Series title in 2017.
Although not among the top 16 national seeds, Florida State still did enough throughout the course of the season to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament for the 44th consecutive time – tying an NCAA record.
The Seminoles (33-23) are paired with No. 14 national seed and host Auburn. Second-seed UCLA and fourth-seed Southeastern Louisiana join Florida State in the Auburn, Alabama, regional.
Florida State's 44 straight postseason appearances – from 1978 to present – is tied for the longest streak in Division I college baseball history.
UCLA and Florida State will meet Friday at noon on ESPN2. First pitch for Miami and Canisius is set for noon Friday, while Florida and Central Michigan is set to begin Friday at 6:30 p.m.
