Tigers happy to play NCAA host

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CLEMSON — Absence has made Clemson coach Jack Leggett grow fonder of starting the NCAA tournament at home.

As expected Sunday, the Tigers were named as one of the 16 host sites for next weekend’s four-team, double-elimination NCAA regionals.

The other three teams participating in Clemson’s regional will be announced during today’s 12:30 p.m. NCAA tournament selection show on ESPN.

The Tigers (40-19) return to the NCAA tourney after their stretch of 21 consecutive appearances — then the third-longest streak in the country — ended last season. It also marks the first time Clemson has played host to a regional since 2006.

“This is huge for us,” Leggett said. “Last year was disappointing, and we came back with some fire in our eyes because we hadn’t been there in a long period of time. We have a lot of tradition and are in a situation where we feel like we’ve earned it.”

As recent history suggests, the Tigers could use it, too.

Since the NCAA field expanded in 1999, Clemson has won all eight of its home postseason series, making its three College World Series appearances after hosting both a regional and super regional series.

Conversely, it has lost six of eight road series, with one of those wins coming two years ago in Myrtle Beach.

Nonetheless, Leggett hopes Clemson responds better to this week’s five-day layoff than it did last week.

The Tigers dropped their first two ACC tournament game before beating top-seeded North Carolina 4-3 in 11 innings Saturday with Wilson Boyd’s dramatic walk-off hit — a win Leggett believes can give Clemson some postseason momentum.

“We got to 40 wins, our RPI and schedule were good, and we’ve been battling all year long and kept going,” Leggett said. “It will hopefully be good for our fans to see us play at home again.”

The ACC landed four regionals — including North Carolina, Florida State and Georgia Tech — the most by any conference.

Reserved ticket books to this weekend’s regional are available for $70. IPTAY members can buy them at the school’s Web site or by calling the school’s ticket office. Tickets will be made available to the general public starting Tuesday.

Single-game tickets will be sold once matchups become known, with reserved seats costing $12 and general admission seats $8. If reserved seating sells out, general admission books will be made available for $45.

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Monday, May. 25, 2009

Monday, May. 25, 2009

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