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Four Top Teams Vie for Kia Baseball Bash Crown

29 February 2000

Four Top Teams Vie for Kia Baseball Bash Crown; CSF to Host Early Season Baseball Tourney

    IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 28 -- Four of the top collegiate
baseball teams in the country will test their early-season rankings in the
first Kia Baseball Bash to be held this weekend, March 3-5, at Cal State
Fullerton.
    Cal State Fullerton, ranked No. 4 by Baseball America, plays host to
No. 7 Georgia Tech, No. 9 USC and Mississippi State in a round-robin
tournament in which each team plays the other three on consecutive days.
    "It's exciting to bring some of the best college baseball teams in the
country to Orange County," said B.M. Ahn, president and chief executive
officer of Irvine-based Kia Motors America.  "We at Kia like to have fun, and
there's no better way to have fun than going out to a ballgame."
    The tournament will get underway at 2:30 p.m. Friday as Georgia Tech takes
on USC.  At 7 p.m., Cal State Fullerton meets Mississippi State.
    On Saturday the action again begins at 2:30 p.m. as USC battles
Mississippi State, while the 7 p.m. nightcap offers Cal State Fullerton versus
Georgia Tech.
    The teams take to the field a bit earlier on Sunday with a 1 p.m. game
pitting the two eastern teams, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech.  The
tournament's finale will be a battle of two of the region's most highly
regarded teams, Cal State Fullerton and USC.  Both teams have won a national
championship in the last five years, and this battle could be a preview of a
College World Series match-up later this year.
    Admission to individual games is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for kids
17 and under.  Tickets can be purchased in advance or on game days from the
Cal State Fullerton box office.  Call 714-278-CSUF for more information.
    Kia Motors America is the U.S. sales, marketing and service arm of Kia
Motors Corp. in Seoul, South Korea.