Mount Olive gets NCAA regional

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on May 14, 2007 1:47 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- The NCAA selection committee announced No. 10-ranked Mount Olive College will host the 2007 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional late Sunday evening.

The six-team, double-elimination tournament is scheduled for Thursday-Sunday at historic Grainger Stadium in Kinston. The top-seeded Trojans (46-11 overall) will face sixth-seeded Virginia State University, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion, in the opening round.

A game time has not been announced. The host team has the option of playing the late game.

University of South Carolina at Aiken drew the No. 5 seed and will play fellow league member Columbus State (Ga.) University. Third-seeded Georgia College & State University opposes fourth-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.) University, which won the Peach Belt Conference tournament.

Play continues through Sunday with the winner earning a spot in the Division II College World Series, which will be played May 25-June 1 in Montgomery, Ala.

Mount Olive clinched its regional berth nearly a month ago by winning its second consecutive Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference tournament. MOC is making its second straight appearance in the postseason and seventh overall in school history.

The Trojans are hosting their first-ever NCAA regional in any sport.

Virginia State is a first-time participant in the regionals. No. 25-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State (39-21) is making its 15th postseason appearance.

The PBC swept the at-large bids. No. 15-ranked Columbus State (43-17) is making its fifth trip to the playoffs, while PBC regular-season champion GCSU (44-13) brings a No. 5 national ranking to eastern North Carolina.

GCSU won the national title in 2002.

USC-Aiken (38-22) earned its third consecutive trip to the South Atlantic Regional and is making its fifth postseason appearance overall. USC-Aiken defeated the Trojans in last year's regional, which was hosted by GCSU.

Mount Olive was ranked No. 1 in the South Atlantic Region poll in each of the final three weeks of regular-season play. The Trojans made five consecutive trips to the South Atlantic Regional from 1996-2000 and returned to the regional again last season.

The Trojans have never advanced to the Division II CWS.

Jeff Eisen, MOC director of athletics, submitted two bids to host the NCAA regional. While Scarborough Field met most of the committee's criteria, it chose Grainger Stadium instead because of hotel availability.

Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for students with ID. Four-day, all-session passes are available for $35 for adults and $15 for students.