Wildcat ⚾ is seeded No. 2 & will play Sam Houston St @4pm Friday

[WILD]

https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/869233486044987393

Tucson, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats were selected for their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the NCAA Selection Committee announced Monday morning.

The Wildcats were selected to the Lubbock, Texas Regional, hosted by Texas Tech, and will be joined by the host Red Raiders, Sam Houston State and Delaware. The Cats are seeded No. 2 and will play Sam Houston State in the opening round, scheduled for 4 p.m., MST Friday in Lubbock. The Cats open with Sam Houston State for the second straight year. Last year, Arizona beat Sam Houston State twice in the Lafayette Regional.

All games in the Lubbock regional will be available on ESPN3. ESPNU will also provide Bases Loaded coverage, which drops in on various games.

The selection marks Arizona's 39th NCAA Tournament appearance and third in the last six years. The Wildcats are the only Pac-12 team to be selected for back-to-back tournament appearances. Last year, in coach Jay Johnson's first season at the helm of the Wildcats, Arizona advanced to the College World Series for the 18th time in program history and finished as the National Runner-Up.

The Wildcats finished their regular season Sunday against Cal, closing the regular season with a 37-19 record and a 16-14 mark in Pac-12 play. The Cats have won 75 games over the past two seasons in Johnson's first two years at Arizona.

This year, JJ Matijevic led the Wildcats with a .389 batting average, with 10 home runs and 64 RBI. He also has 29 doubles, one shy of the single-season school record set by Dave Stegman in 1976. Sophomore Alfonso Rivas also had a banner season, batting .374 with 12 doubles, six home runs and 61 RBI. Cameron Ming led the pitching staff with a 7-2 record and a 2.70 ERA in 70 innings.

The Cats scored 440 runs in 56 regular season games with 126 doubles, 34 home runs and 383 RBI. Matijevic led the Pac-12 in batting average, slugging percentage, hits and doubles. Cal Stevenson led the league in runs with 60 and Rivas led the league in on base percentage at .490.

Last season, in Arizona's first postseason bid since 2012, the Cats won the Lafayette Regional, the Starkville Super Regional, before advancing to the College World Series. There, Arizona beat Oklahoma State twice in a row to advance to the College World Series Finals versus Coastal Carolina.

Tickets for the Lubbock regional go on sale Wednesday at 6:30 am MST. You can purchase via phone: 806-742-TECH or https://t.co/eHtTH5UQZa.