Stillwater Regional Set as Teams Announced on Monday

STILLWATER – The NCAA announced the 64-team baseball bracket on Monday, with Oklahoma State hosting as the No. 11 seed. Along with the Cowboys, Florida, Nebraska and Niagara round out the field of the Stillwater Regional. 

“We just found out about it, so trying to digest it a little bit, but we’re excited that it’s here in Stillwater, that’s for sure,” head coach Josh Holliday said of hosting a third-straight NCAA Regional. “As I told the kids last night via a message, it’s a double elimination tournament, there’s gonna be four great teams. The teams that travel in here have obviously done something to get here. Who they end up being and all the different things that go into it really can’t be the mood setter. The mood setter is our team and the confidence we have in one another, the way we’re playing and just the joy of continuing to play.”

The Cowboys rolled through the Big 12 tournament in Arlington, TX, this past weekend, winning three games in roughly 30 hours, including knocking off Bedlam rivals, and No. 1 overall seed, OU, in the championship game. Going into the Big 12 tourney, the Pokes were projected anywhere from a 13 seed to a 16 seed, depending on the publication, with the Big 12 tourney pushing them to a No. 11 seed. 

The Pokes’ first match up will be the Purple Eagles of Niagara, marking their first NCAA tournament appearance in program history. Up to this point, the Purple Eagles have recorded a 38-15 overall record, 20-4 in MAAC play. They also went 3-0 in the MAAC Tournament, knocking off the No. 1 seed, Fairfield, 10-6 in the championship game.

According to the release from OSU baseball, “Nebraska is the No. 2 seed in Stillwater; the Big 10 champion Cornhuskers are 39-20 on the season. The third seed is Florida, who will bring a 28-27 record to Stillwater,” with Niagara the fourth seed.”