Mid-American Conference

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Central Michigan baseball team got down to business on Thursday at Mississippi State's Dudy Noble Field in preparation for its NCAA Regional opener against Miami (Fla.). ?The Chippewas are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995
 
The Chippewas are set to open the four-team double-elimination regional on Friday (8 p.m.) against Miami (Fla.), which is back in the NCAA Tournament after missing the last two seasons. CMU enters the regional riding an 18-game win streak, which ties for the second longest in program history and is the longest since the program jumped to Division I in the early 1970s. The longest streak in program history is 24 games, set in 1970. CMU has won 32 of its last 37 starts.

Prior to that, the Hurricanes had put together an NCAA record 44 consecutive tournament berths, won 30 regional titles (also an NCAA record), and captured the national title four times.
 
Host Mississippi State, the regional's top seed, is scheduled to open the tournament on Friday (1 p.m.) against fourth-seeded Southern, the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament champion. The Chippewas are the third seed, while Miami is No. 2. Mississippi State is the No. 6 overall seed in the entire 64-team field.
 
Mississippi State, like Miami, is among the college baseball blue bloods. The Bulldogs, who play in the Southeastern Conference, are hosting a regional for the 14th time in program history. They have won 32 regional titles.

Senior Pat Leatherman is expected to start for the Chippewas against Miami. The veteran has turned in a remarkable season, his last in a Chippewa uniform. He is 10-1 with a 2.56 earned run average. Earlier this season, he became the program's career leader in strikeouts.
 
Friday's winner will play on Saturday at 7 p.m. Friday's losers will play an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.