TALLAHASSEE, Fla -- Just three years ago, the Bucknell Bison sent shockwaves through the sports world when they upset third-seeded Kansas 64-63 in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Friday night, the Bucknell baseball team will need an equally herculean effort to pull off a similar upset of No. 1 seed Florida State in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
"We're just going about it like it was any other game," said senior co-captain Mathew Wilson, who will start on the mound for the Bison against FSU. "Florida State is a great team and there's a lot less room for error.
"It's a chance to show how good we are, to show that we can play with anybody."
The Patriot League champions enter the four-team, double-elimination regional as the fourth seed, although the Bison (29-22-2) are riding the wave of a five-game winning streak. Along with top seed host Florida State (48-10), the ACC Atlantic Division champions and fourth overall seed in the entire tournament, the other two teams in the regional are No. 2 Florida (34-22) and No. 3 Tulane (37-19-1). First pitch between the Bison and Seminoles is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium, with both teams returning to action Saturday, times dependent on who wins and loses Friday.
"Playing in a venue (like Dick Howser stadium) is a challenge," Bucknell head coach Gene Depew said. "Florida State will challenge us and we have to step up.
"We've worked just as hard as they have during the season to get here."
Senior co-captain Jason Buursma, the Patriot League Player of the Year in 2008 (12 home runs and .676 slugging percentage), will lead the Bison offense against FSU starter Geoff Parker. Parker is 6-1 on the year, with a 3.52 ERA, including wins over top seeds North Carolina and Miami.
Bucknell will counter with Wilson, 5-1 with a 4.22 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 59.2 innings of work.
Those familiar with college baseball know that knocking off the Seminoles, the second-winningest program in the history of the sport, on their home field nonetheless, will be a mighty task for Depew's squad. This will be Bucknell's fourth trip to the Division I tournament, but the Bison are thus far winless in NCAA play.
"Bucknell is a team we know nothing about," said Florida State head coach Mike Martin. "All I remember in this business is that I had never heard of Marshall in 1978. The guys were over-confident and we were shut out by Marshall in Miami. Bucknell is going to be a very competitive team that we will certainly not overlook or take lightly."
In comparison, Florida State has played in 46 NCAA tournaments, but has never won a College World Series championship, although the team has made 18 appearances in the series. This season, the Seminoles were first in the nation with a .350 team batting average and ranked third in slugging and fourth in runs scored.
Junior catcher Buster Posey was responsible for a large part of Florida State's success, as he led the nation in average, slugging, and on-base percentage, while finishing two homers shy of the ACC triple crown. The Achilles heal of FSU, which Bucknell will try to exploit, is defense; the Seminoles ranked 183rd in fielding percentage this season.
"It's not program versus program, it's team versus team," said Depew. "It's not football. We're not outweighed 50 pounds a man or anything like that.
"If we hang in there, it will put pressure on them. We're hitting the ball pretty well right now (.313 team batting average) and we expect to get our offense going early."
As extra motivation, Depew plans to show his team a DVD of the final 10 minutes of Bucknell's miracle upset of Kansas on the bus ride to the stadium Friday night.
When asked if he drew any inspiration from that contest, Wilson said "Definitely. (Bucknell) handled themselves against a high-level of competition, but still played their same style of game.
"We just need to play our game and we should be able to compete with anybody."
Notes: Sun Sports announced Wednesday that it plans to televise Friday's contest between Bucknell and Florida State. Outside the state of Florida, satellite television subscribers can access Sun Sports on DirecTV (Channel 632) and Dish Network (Channel 422). Additionally, the Bison Sports Network will provide radio coverage of every Bucknell game in the tournament on WVBU 90.5 FM in Lewisburg, as well as on the Web via BucknellBison.com.
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College baseball: Bucknell faces mighty Florida State in NCAA tournament opener
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