Today kicks off the 2007 Big East Baseball Tournament at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, NY. It will begin with an eight team double-elimination bracket and ends with the conference champion and a few other teams getting bids into the 64 team national tournament. The seedings fell into place like this:

1. St. John’s
2. Rutgers
3. Louisville
4. Pitt
5. USF
6. Villanova
7. Notre Dame
8. UConn

Pitt and South Florida play in the 4-5 matchup at 5:00 PM today and all of the results can be found here. I do not follow Pitt baseball closely but every week or so I try to remember to check the website and see how they’re doing; still haven’t found time to make the 20 minute drive to Trees Field and see them play though. Usually they play Duquesne at PNC Park — and yet they decide to throw it on a Wednesday afternoon.

A 27-25 (15-11 in conference) record was good enough to get them a 4th seed when they were projected to be around 9th (and out of the conference tourney) back at the beginning of the season.

That the Panthers even reached the Big East tourney makes this season a success story. They lost their first eight games of the season, including games to top-ranked Vanderbilt and top-20 Coastal Carolina, but recovered to win their next six before beginning conference play.

The team doesn’t really have it easy at all.

They receive only 8.5 scholarships a year, three-plus below the NCAA maximum (11.7), to fill out their roster.

That means Jordano splits scholarships into percentages, with some players receiving half tuition and others covering the cost of books. It’s not much, but sometimes enough to entice a talented player to walk on.

That announcement of the new baseball field and training complex should make it a little easier to lure potential recruits.

Now, the school is focusing on long overdue facilities for its “Olympic” sports of baseball, softball, soccer and track and field.

“We love playing here,” Jordano said of Trees Field, “but when you get the opportunity to get something brand-new and state-of-the-art, it’s nice.”

As long as they don’t make the players go swimming in Trees Pool. I spent my entire weekend in that pool (long story) and probably developed hypothermia — great isn’t it?