Syracuse will continue postseason play in the Tempe region of the NCAA tournament after earning an at-large bid on Sunday night.

Despite being upset by St. John’s in the first round of the Big East tournament, the Orange’s 40 wins during the regular season were enough for the team to reach the tournament for the third straight season.

In the first round of the double-elimination round robin tournament, SU (40-14) will play Long Beach State (28-23) on Friday in Tempe, Ariz., at 6:30 p.m. The region also includes the host and No. 3 seed Arizona State (46-7), the defending national champions, and LIU Brooklyn (25-33), who will square off in the second game Friday.

The Orange enters the tournament with an at-large bid for the first time in program history. SU won its first-ever NCAA tournament game last season against Louisiana State, but failed to advance past the regional round.

Long Beach State, Big West conference champions, comes into the tournament having won 15 of its last 18 games.

But moving into the next round in Arizona State’s region will be a tough task for SU.

The Sun Devils finished second in the Pac-12 to No. 1 seed California and are among the top teams in the nation. The Orange struggled against Pac-12 competition early in the season, losing to California and Arizona at the Kajikawa Classic and falling to UCLA and Arizona a second time at the Cathedral Classic.

SU was outscored by 21 runs over those four games. And after the Kajikawa classic coach Leigh Ross said she learned a lot about her team, especially after SU lost by only three runs to California.

Syracuse will have to be better than Arizona State and the two other teams in Tempe if it hopes to advance to its first College World Series.

nctoney@syr.edu

Published on May 13, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Nick: nctoney@syr.edu | @nicktoneytweets