Hatters Make History, Will Host NCAA Regional at Melching Field
In the late 1990s, when the City of DeLand and Stetson University first began talks of building a new baseball facility on the site of old Conrad Park, Stetson Director of Athletics Jeff Altier made a promise to city officials that if they agreed to the project, the Hatters would one day bring an NCAA Regional Tournament to DeLand.
More than two decades after that promise was made, and 20 years since Melching Field at Conrad Park opened as the home field for Hatters Baseball, that promise becomes reality this weekend.
On Sunday evening, Stetson University and the City of DeLand were selected by the NCAA as one of 16 host sites for Regional Tournaments to open the “Road to Omaha” in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Since the facility first opened in 1999, which corresponded with the expansion of the tournament from eight to 16 regional sites, 68 cities have been awarded Regional Tournaments. DeLand becomes the 69th community to join that exclusive club.
The Hatters are set to face Hartford on Friday, June 1, at 7 p.m.
ESPN reported Monday that Stetson (45-11) — the first team to host from the Atlantic Sun Conference — carries a nation-leading, 15-game winning streak into the tournament. South Florida, Oklahoma State and Hartford are headed to the DeLand regional tournament.
The NCAA Tournament will begin at the 16 Regional sites on Friday, June 1, with four teams competing in a double-elimination bracket. The winners of those Regional tournament will advance to Super Regional play the following weekend, with two teams playing a best two-out-of-three series for the right to advance to Omaha for the College World Series.
Play in the College World Series will open on June 15 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
The other Regional Tournament sites for 2018 include Gainesville and Tallahassee, Palo Alto, Calif., Fayetteville, Ark., Oxford, Miss., Corvallis, Ore., Clemson and Conway, SC, Athens, Ga., Chapel Hill, Greenville and Raleigh, NC, Minneapolis, MN, Lubbock and Austin, Texas.
Fans interested in being a part of the Hatters’ NCAA Regional Tournament at Melching Field can reserve tickets for the event, which will include six or seven games. The Athletics Ticket Office is accepting orders for tickets now with tournament passes costing $65 for reserved seats and $55 for general admission. Single game tickets will be available later in the week, while supplies last, for $18 and $12.
The tournament is expected to sell out very quickly. To make sure to have your seats reserved, call the Athletics Ticket Office at 386-738-HATS, go online to www.GoHatters.com/tix or visit the ticket office in person during regular business hours. You can also submit an interest form to reserve your seats. Click here: NCAA Regional Tickets
