June 3, 2005

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The three California teams in the four-team NCAA Regional at Blair Field have combined for 76 NCAA Tournament appearances. The University of Rhode Island baseball team makes the grand total 77.

USC has 40 NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 national titles, double the number of any school in the country. Long Beach State has 14 NCAA Regional appearances and four berths in the College World Series. Pepperdine has made 22 NCAA appearances.

Rhode Island is making its NCAA Tournament debut.

"We're just very happy to be here. Our program has come a long way," 13th year head coach Frank Leoni said at Thursday's press conference at Blair Field. "We were almost extinct in my second year as coach, but our associate athletic director John Vanner was able to get this accomplished."

While the three California schools are agitated at being grouped together in the same Regional, of which only one team advances to the Super Regional, the Rams (34-19) are thrilled to have finally made the NCAA Tournament. But that doesn't mean they're not ready to take on these traditional baseball powers.

"It's going to be a very good experience to face this competition. Long Beach State, Pepperdine and USC are all very worth opponents," senior captain Matt Sullivan said. "We're focused and ready to go. We're not intimidated by any of these teams."

That will be the key Friday night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time when the Rams play under the lights in front of a sellout crowd at 3,000-seat Blair Field against host Long Beach State (36-20). The 49ers are 24-7 on their home field this season, which has Yellowstone Park-like dimensions of 348-feet down each foul line.

"I was very happy to see the dimensions when I walked in here," Leoni said. "It looks like it's a nice big yard with a lot of room, and I think that suits us pretty well with the pitching that we have. It definitely helps our margin of error a little more."

"As a pitcher, it's definitely good to see a big field," Rhode Island's Friday night starter Dan Frederick said. "I'm basically a ground ball pitcher, so that helps me a lot."

The Rams will send Frederick, the school's all-time leader in career wins with 22, to the mound against Long Beach State. The 49ers are not known for their offense, batting just .285 as a team. Their leading hitter, Troy Tulowitzki is batting .355 with 12 doubles, seven homers and 26 RBIs. Those less-than-extraordinary numbers are obviously hurt by playing 31 games in the spacious Blair Field. Tulowitzki is projected to go as the third overall pick to the Seattle in Tuesday's Major League Baseball Draft.

Long Beach does not have a hitter with 30 RBIs and has hit just 21 home runs as a team. So how are they ranked No. 12 in the nation and hosting a NCAA Regional? Try a nation-leading 2.44 ERA from the pitching staff.

The 49ers have three starters with ERAs under 3.00, but Long Beach will be sending Cody Evans, who is 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA out to the mound against the Rams.

"It has been our philosophy at Long Beach State for a long time to win the weekend, not one game. The philosophy is to win the regional," 49er head coach Mike Weathers said. "These guys deserve the best chance to win a regional. It could be a long weekend.

"We started talking about this weekend to Cody six weeks ago and told him that those Tuesday starts would be important for him and us," Weathers continued. "This is not something new, this is something he has prepared for."

Weathers plans to pitch the No. 3 pitcher Saturday, the No. 2 pitcher Sunday and the No. 1 pitcher in a decisive game Monday night.

Rhode Island, which boasts the highest team batting average of the four schools here, ranking 19th in the nation at .318, hopes to challenges Long Beach's reverse order theory of pitching. The theory has worked in the past though, leading to The Beach to four College World Series appearances.

The Rams also own a talented and deep pitching staff with a team ERA of 3.69, ranking 23rd in the nation. Frederick will get the start Friday and then junior left-hander Zack Zuercher will go in the second game against either USC or Pepperdine on Saturday. Sophomore right-hander Steve Holmes, the school's all-time leader in winning percentage at .857 (12-2) would go in a third game.

The key to pulling off the upset of Long Beach State is getting a lead in the first six innings. Much like the Rams, Long Beach has a lights-out setup man and a dominant closer.

Rhode Island has a 29-0 mark when leading after six innings thanks to set-up man Tom Venedam and closer Mick Lefort. The 49ers are just as untouchable when leading after six innings with a 29-1 mark. Setup man Brian Anderson has a 0.88 ERA in 41 innings pitched and closer Neil Jamison has a 0.00 ERA, having allowed just two runs in 27 innings pitched with 11 saves.

Leoni has instilled a confidence in his team that they can play with anyone. After practicing exclusively in a gymnasium in the preseason, Rhode Island went down to No. 12 ranked Florida and gave the Gators a fight in the Rams' season opener with Frederick on the mound, before falling 6-5.

"We played strong teams all year long, so it helps us get ready for situations like this," Frederick said. "We don't think that these guys are so much better than us. We know we can play with everyone and we've shown it in the past. Now we just have to stay focused."

Members of this senior-laden team were in the lineup in 2003 when the Rams defeated No. 11 ranked Richmond and took down an Alabama team that spent part of the year in the top 25.

The game can be followed on live audio and NCAA Live Stats linked here through GoRhody.com. The game will be carried live in Rhode Island on 920 WHJJ-AM.