The championship field for the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Neb., includes teams from both Carolinas, the states of Florida, California, Tennessee and Virginia, but only Texas is coming to town with a two-fer.
The Texas Longhorns eliminated Arizona State from a CWS invitation in coming out on top 4-2 in the deciding game on Sunday, and Monday night Texas A&M punched its World Series ticket by jumping on host Florida State for six big tallies in the opening inning of their Super Regional final and cruising to an 11-2 pounding of the higher-seeded Seminoles.
While the Big 12 has two teams in the field at this year’s College World Series, being played for the first time at new TD Ameritrade Park after many years at Rosenblatt Stadium, the Southeastern Conference placed three schools in the brackets to lead all conferences. Two teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference also are among the final eight.
The 2011 College World Series gets under way on Saturday with two games scheduled: North Carolina vs. Vanderbilt in the opening game, followed by Texas taking on Florida. Sunday’s schedule in the double-elimination tournament has California going against top-seeded Virgina and Texas A&M paired against defending college national champion South Carolina.
Texas will be making its 34th appearance in the College World Series and has won six national championships. For Texas A&M, it will be the Aggies first World Series appearance since 1999.