UA to open CWS on Friday against Florida State

Published Jun. 11, 2012 9:52 a.m. ET

foxsports

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The game times and pairings for the first two days of the College World
Series were announced Monday, with Arizona opening against Florida State
in the second game at 6 p.m. Arizona time on Friday.

The first game Friday is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Arizona time and
features Stony Brook (52-13) against No. 2 national seed UCLA (47-14).
After the completion of that game, the Wildcats (43-17) will begin their
16th CWS appearance by taking on the Seminoles (48-15).

The doubleheader on Saturday features the winner of the Waco Super
Regional (Arkansas or Baylor) against the winner of the Eugene Super
Regional (Kent State or Oregon) at 2 p.m. Arizona time and then No. 1
national seed Florida (47-18) against defending national champion South
Carolina at 6 p.m. Arizona time.

The losers of Friday's two games will play one another at 2 p.m. Arizona
time on Sunday, while Friday's winners face off at 6 p.m. Arizona time
Sunday. The losers of Saturday's games will play each other at 2 p.m.
Arizona time on Monday, while Saturday's winners meet Monday at 6 p.m.
Arizona time.

The winners of the two brackets will play best-of-three championship
finals, with the first game to be played on Sunday, June 24.

Arizona became the first team to earn a bid to the College World Series by defeating St. John’s in consecutive games Friday and Saturday in the Tucson Super Regional. Florida State secured its bid with a Friday victory over Stanford and, after being rained out on Saturday, a second win Sunday in the Tallahassee Super Regional.

The Wildcats and Seminoles have met 11 total times, with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 6-5. The most recent meeting was a three-game series in Tucson in 1991 in which UA won two of three. A year prior, Florida Swept three games in Tallahassee.

The other five meetings have all been in Omaha. The Wildcats twice defeated the Seminoles at the 1986 College World Series, including by a score of 10-2 on June 9, 1986, to secure Arizona’s third national championship.

Arizona’s run to the 1980 national championship also featured a matchup against the Florida State. The Wildcats defeated the Seminoles 5-3, on May 31, 1980, in an elimination game, which sparked a five-game winning streak en route to the title.

Florida State upended UA 4-0 in the opening game of the 1970 College World Series. In the schools' first-ever meeting, Arizona prevailed 4-3 at the 1963 College World Series.

The two storied programs have now combined to make 37 all-time College World Series appearances -- 21 for FSU and 16 for UA -- and have 126 combined CWS games played between them.

Arizona ticket information can be found at www.arizonawildcats.com.