May 30, 2011

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy baseball program will be making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament when it meets top-seeded Virginia this Friday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the Charlottesville Regional. The NCAA announced the 64-team tournament field on Monday and completing the four-team Charlottesville Regional are East Carolina, the No. 2 seed, and St. John's, the region's No. 3 seed.

Tickets for the Charlottesville Regional are currently available through the Virginia ticket office and can be ordered by calling 1-800-542-8821 or online here.

The losing teams from Friday will meet in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Saturday, while the winners will play at 6 p.m. Saturday. The second elimination game will be contested at 1 p.m. Sunday, with the championship game slated for later that day at 6 p.m. If necessary, a second championship game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday.

Navy, the region's No. 4 seed, will be playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 2002. The Midshipmen are 33-23-1 and earned at automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Patriot League title.

"It's always really rewarding to be a part of a team that's in the national tournament," said Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "I know the guys really enjoy it. Having an atmosphere like we had here today - parents, relatives, family friends and fans that come to our games - gave us a chance to take in the moment and was pretty special."

At 49-9, overall, and 22-8 in ACC play, Virginia is the tournament's No. 1 overall seed. ECU received an at-large tournament berth after going 39-19, overall, and 14-10 in Conference USA. St. John's also received an at-large bid after going 35-20, overall, and 18-8 in Big East play.

"We've got some work to do," said Kostacopoulos. "We're playing, arguably, the best team in the country and we're going to have to get ourselves ready to go compete and play hard."

All games of the regional will be webcast on NCAA.com.

The 64-team NCAA Tournament field is made up of 16 regionals, each featuring four teams, playing a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are slated to be conducted from Friday, June 3, to Monday, June 6 (if necessary).

2011 NCAA Charlottesville Regional Schedule
Friday, June 3
Game 1 - No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Navy, 1 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 2 East Carolina vs. No. 3 St. John's, 6 p.m.

Saturday, June 4
Game 3 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 4 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 5
Game 5 - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m.

Monday, June 6
Game 7 - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 6 p.m. (if necessary)