Illinois to Play Cal State Fullerton in NCAA Baseball Regional

Illinois will enter the 2011 NCAA Baseball Tournament as the No. 4 seed, slated for first round play in the Cal State Fullerton Regional.

Illinois (28-25) learned Monday morning that it will face host team Cal State Fullerton (40-15) on the regional's opening night on Friday, June 3. Game time is 10 PM Central Time. That game follows the matchup of No. 2 seed Stanford (32-20) and No. 3 seed Kansas State (36-23) in the first round of double-elimination play.

Illinois earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, when it won the Big Ten Tournament, sweeping through the competition with three straight wins. Illinois shared the regular-season title with Michigan State, but defeated Michigan State twice as it won its second Big Ten championship in the last seven years.

Friday's game will mark Illinois baseball coach Dan Hartlieb's first regional appearance as a head coach. Hartlieb was an assistant on Illinois' NCAA Tournament teams in 1998 and 2000 --- and a graduate assistant coach on SIU's 1990 CBAA Tournament team.