USC, Loyola and CS Fullerton Given at-Large Berths in NCAA Regionals

Computerization has hit college baseball, and it turned out to be a plus for at least one Southland team but a big zero for another.

Three local teams--Loyola Marymount, Cal State Fullerton and USC--earned at-large berths in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. regional playoffs, beginning Wednesday. Pepperdine qualified earlier by winning the West Coast Athletic Assn. title.

San Diego State, considered a shoo-in for a bid with a 47-18-1 record, was not selected. And USC, thought to be on the ragged edge because of a fourth-place finish in the Pacific 10 Southern Division, was not only chosen, but was seeded fourth in its regional.

All of that was the result of a new computer program that helped the NCAA rules committee decide not only what teams were selected, but where those teams will play. The computer program weighed the success rate and strength of schedule for each team.

San Diego State plays in the Western Athletic Conference, which NCAA officials said did not show up well statistically. San Diego State, Hawaii and Brigham Young were the only teams in the eight-team WAC that finished above .500.

USC of the Pac-10 Southern Division, however, plays one of the toughest schedules in the country.

None of the local teams will play in the same regional tournament, which reflects an attempt by the NCAA rules committee to increase the strength of each of the eight six-team regionals.

USC is the fourth-seeded team in the West I regional at Fresno. Pepperdine is the fifth-seeded team in the West II tournament at Arizona State. Cal State Fullerton will travel to the South regional at Starkville, Miss., as the third-seeded team, and Loyola Marymount, with perhaps the toughest draw, will play in the Midwest regional at Stillwater, Okla. The Lions are the third-seeded team in the tournament hosted by the top-ranked team in the country, Oklahoma State.

Other California teams earning at-large berths were Santa Clara, the fifth-seeded team at the Fresno regional, and California, the second-seeded team in the Central Regional at the University of Texas at Austin. Defending national champion Stanford will play in the Northeast tournament in New Britain, Conn. Stanford is the second-seeded team behind Clemson.