Virginia baseball gets No. 3 seed in Columbia region, will face Gamecocks in opener

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s baseball team has been selected as the No. 3 seed in the Columbia, S.C., Regional, and will face No. 2 seed South Carolina at noon Friday on ESPN2. The Cavaliers return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 and for the 15th time in 18 seasons during the Brian O’Connor era.

Old Dominion (42-14) is the No. 1 seed in the region, while Jacksonville (16-32) is No. 4. South Carolina enters the tournament with a 33-21 record, while Virginia is 29-23.

In this double-elimination format, ODU meets Jacksonville at 7 p.m. on Friday. Teams will battle over the weekend to decide who advances to face the champion of the Fort Worth regional, which is comprised of Dallas Baptist, McNeese, Oregon State and TCU. Super Regional sites won’t be announced until next Tuesday, June 8, at eight sites.

O’Connor’s squad comes into the tournament with momentum gained by winning 10 of its last 14 games, falling in the ACC Tournament semifinals to Duke.

The Columbia regional will be televised live on various ESPN channels and streamed live on ESPN.com and the ESPN app

O’Connor will meet with media on Tuesday to talk about the Cavaliers headed into NCAA play.