Andy Lopez will play a postseason game in Tucson for the first time in his 11 years at Arizona. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com
The Arizona Wildcats will be playing host to postseason baseball for the first time since 1992.
Arizona, which moved to Hi Corbett Field this season to some of the biggest crowds in decades, was announced Sunday as one of 16 host sites for the NCAA regionals, which will take place Friday through Monday.
The Cats entered Sunday afternoon’s regular-season finale against Arizona State with a 37-17 overall record, tied for first in the Pac-12 with Oregon and UCLA with a 19-10 mark.
Many in the crowd at Hi Corbett stood and cheered as the news was announced after the first inning, with the Cats up 4-0.
Since 1992, the Cats have traveled to Stillwater, Okla.; Waco, Texas; South Bend, Ind.; Fullerton, Calif.; Wichita, Kan.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Fort Worth, Texas; and College Station, Texas.
Arizona won two of those eight regionals to reach the Super Regional round, and once advanced to the College World Series — in 2004.
The move from on-campus Kindall/Sancet Stadium to venerable and more spacious Hi Corbett was expected to enhance Arizona’s chance of being a postseason host, and the Wildcats did their part on the field to be considered, entering the weekend ranked 13th nationally.
The full postseason field of 64 will be announced Monday at 9 a.m. Tucson time on ESPNU. The regionals feature four teams in a double-elimination format.
While this will be the first time an Andy Lopez-coached Arizona will be playing in the postseason in Tucson, Lopez does have happy memories of such a scenario. His Pepperdine team won the 1992 Tucson regional en route to the school’s only national championship.
The 16 hosts for regional action, including four Pac-12 teams:
LSU
North Carolina
Virginia
Texas A&M
South Carolina
Miami
Oregon
Florida
Purdue
Rice
UCLA
Stanford
North Carolina State
Florida State
Arizona
Baylor
Ticket information:
Arizona baseball season ticket holders have an exclusive window to purchase reserved tickets to the regional games. Season ticket holders have until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29, to purchase all-session tickets.
All-session general admission tickets will go on sale to the public on Sunday, May 27, online at 1 p.m. General admission public sales will be available over the phone and in-person at the McKale Ticket Office beginning Tuesday, May 29th at 9 a.m.
If any reserved seats remain after the season ticket holder window they would be open for sale on Tuesday, May 29, at 6 p.m. Single-session tickets will go on sale later in the week. Exact on-sale time and date is to be announced. The McKale Ticket Office will be closed on Monday, May 28th for Memorial Day.