Michigan
Florida Gulf Coast
Michigan to Face FGCU in First Round of NCAA Tourney
5/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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THIS WEEK
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Friday, June 2 -- vs. Florida Gulf Coast (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 1 p.m.
ESPN3
• NCAA Bracket | Regional Central | Tickets
• Complete Game Notes 
| Coach Bakich on WTKA 
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- With its first at-large bid since 2007 and 23rd selection overall, the No. 24-ranked University of Michigan baseball team (42-15) will make a return to the NCAA Tournament this weekend (Fri-Mon., June 2-5). The Wolverines are the No. 3 seed in the regional and will face No. 2-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (42-18) on Friday (June 2) at 1 p.m. in the opening game of the double-elimination event at Boshamer Stadium. Host North Carolina (47-12), the tournament's No. 2 overall seed, and Davidson (32-24) will meet in the night game at 6 p.m.
2017 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional Schedule
Friday, June 2
Game 1: #2 Florida Gulf Coast (42-18) vs. #3 Michigan (42-15), 1 p.m.
Game 2: #1 North Carolina (47-12) vs. #4 Davidson (32-24), 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 3
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 4
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6 p.m.
Monday, June 5
Game 7, if necessary, 6 p.m.
» After compiling 42 wins through the 2017 regular season and finishing second in the Big Ten Conference, the University of Michigan baseball team received an at-large berth in the 2017 NCAA Division I Championship on Monday (May 29) when the 64-team NCAA field was announced.
» The at-large selection is Michigan's first since 2007, though the Wolverines advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2015 by way of winning the Big Ten Tournament, which serves as an automatic qualifier. Michigan, which finished the regular season in second place in the Big Ten with a 16-8 league record, is one of five Big Ten teams in the NCAA field, joining Indiana, Big Ten Tournament winner Iowa, Maryland and Big Ten champion Nebraska.
» The meeting between Michigan and Florida Gulf Coast will mark the sixth in history and the first in the postseason. The Wolverines won the most-recent meeting, which came at the Eagles' home field back in 2014, though Florida Gulf Coast leads the series, 3-2. The Eagles earned the No. 2 seed in the regional after defeating Jacksonville twice last week to clinch the Atlantic Sun Conference title and capture the automatic bid with a program-best 42 wins.
» With a second-place finish just half a game back in the Big Ten Conference, Michigan advanced to the Big Ten Tournament for the fifth straight season, as the Wolverines have advanced to the postseason each year under the guidance of head coach Erik Bakich. The Maize and Blue dropped back-to-back games in the tournament and was eliminated on the second day of action.
» A victory over Eastern Michigan in the final week of the regular season marked Michigan's 40th win of the 2017 campaign, which stands as the most in a single season for the Maize and Blue since 2008. Prior to the 2017 campaign, Michigan had compiled a 40-win season just 12 times in modern history, and the 40-win mark is the first for Coach Bakich in his head coaching career.
» Michigan's defense currently ranks No. 3 in the country, thanks to a .983 fielding percentage. The Wolverines have committed just 36 errors on the season, with starters accounting for just 20 of those.
» The Maize and Blue also ranks fourth in the nation with 122 stolen bases, good for first in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have been caught stealing just 29 times this season. Junior Jake Bivens currently leads Michigan with 24 stolen bases on the year, which ranks tied for 17th in the country.
» Michigan's pitching staff has been rock solid this season, posting a conference-best 3.26 team ERA to rank 11th in the country. The Wolverines also rank seventh in the nation with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings and lead the Big Ten with the lowest opponent batting average, most batters struck out and the fewest hits allowed.
» Offensively, the Wolverines currently lead the Big Ten in numerous statistical categories, including on-base percentage (.380), runs scored (378), RBI (335) and walks (258).
