One week ago, a trip to the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional tournament was probably the furthest thing from the mind of West Virginia State coach Cal Bailey.

The longtime Jackets skipper wasn't looking that far ahead.

His team had just lost its first game in the West Virginia Conference tournament. Forget about the NCAAs - another defeat would spell the end of State's conference championship hopes.

The Jackets had their backs squarely against the wall and Bailey knew it. But instead of calling his players together to preach about the importance of the next game, Bailey never said a word.

And the Jackets let their play the remainder of the weekend speak for itself.

"We never talked about it, never had any team meetings," said Bailey, who's team battled back to win four straight games and clinch the WVC title and its automatic berth in the regional. "The boys figured out what they had to do and went out and did it. I'm not a big believer in pep talks. Baseball is more relaxed. Last week, we went up there and knew our backs were against the wall. We went out and did our best."

The Jackets' best has been too much for most teams to handle this season.

After dropping its tournament opener, State won four games by a combined score of 41-6. Including its tournament march, the Jackets finished the season winning 20 of its final 22 games. The offense scored at least 10 runs in 13 of those victories.

The Jackets bring that momentum to this weekend's North Atlantic regional, which begins today at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pa. - the site of last week's WVC tournament. State, the No. 2 seed in the region, opens against No. 5 Shippensburg at 3 p.m. today. In today's first game, No. 1 seed West Chester (41-14) battles No. 6 Kutztown (30-24) at 11 a.m. Following the Jackets' game, No. 3 Concord (35-13) takes on fellow WVC member Pitt Johnstown (35-17-1), the No. 4 seed, at 7 p.m.

"You really try to be peaking at the right time and that's what we seem to be doing," said Bailey. "Reputation-wise, we don't have the same reputation we had last year. Last year, we had outstanding hitters who were having good years and all that, but we kind of leveled out [before the postseason.]"

Last season's tournament run was a short one for the Jackets, who lost their first two regional games. Bailey said the expansive stadium at Kutztown, last year's regional host, played a part in the team's offensive struggles.

One week ago, a trip to the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional tournament was probably the furthest thing from the mind of West Virginia State coach Cal Bailey.

The longtime Jackets skipper wasn't looking that far ahead.

His team had just lost its first game in the West Virginia Conference tournament. Forget about the NCAAs - another defeat would spell the end of State's conference championship hopes.

The Jackets had their backs squarely against the wall and Bailey knew it. But instead of calling his players together to preach about the importance of the next game, Bailey never said a word.

And the Jackets let their play the remainder of the weekend speak for itself.

"We never talked about it, never had any team meetings," said Bailey, who's team battled back to win four straight games and clinch the WVC title and its automatic berth in the regional. "The boys figured out what they had to do and went out and did it. I'm not a big believer in pep talks. Baseball is more relaxed. Last week, we went up there and knew our backs were against the wall. We went out and did our best."

The Jackets' best has been too much for most teams to handle this season.

After dropping its tournament opener, State won four games by a combined score of 41-6. Including its tournament march, the Jackets finished the season winning 20 of its final 22 games. The offense scored at least 10 runs in 13 of those victories.

The Jackets bring that momentum to this weekend's North Atlantic regional, which begins today at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pa. - the site of last week's WVC tournament. State, the No. 2 seed in the region, opens against No. 5 Shippensburg at 3 p.m. today. In today's first game, No. 1 seed West Chester (41-14) battles No. 6 Kutztown (30-24) at 11 a.m. Following the Jackets' game, No. 3 Concord (35-13) takes on fellow WVC member Pitt Johnstown (35-17-1), the No. 4 seed, at 7 p.m.

"You really try to be peaking at the right time and that's what we seem to be doing," said Bailey. "Reputation-wise, we don't have the same reputation we had last year. Last year, we had outstanding hitters who were having good years and all that, but we kind of leveled out [before the postseason.]"

Last season's tournament run was a short one for the Jackets, who lost their first two regional games. Bailey said the expansive stadium at Kutztown, last year's regional host, played a part in the team's offensive struggles.

"Playing at that place hasn't been good to us," Bailey said. "It's a great big field. The wind was blowing in. I think that played a little big in the mental approach to things.

"Johnstown has been nice to us."

Indeed, most places have been nice to the Jackets this season.

After putting up staggering offensive numbers last year, State has bettered them across the board. The Jackets are hitting .357 as a team and slugging .593. They've scored 448 runs and pounded 71 homers.

Bo Darby (.408) and James Broderick (.403) are the Jackets' top hitters. Darby has a team-leading 17 home runs and 69 runs batted in. Broderick has smacked 10 homers and driven in 42.

Travis McGrath and Todd McQuistion anchor the pitching staff. The pair combined to go 15-4, with McGrath striking out a team-high 67 in 552/3 innings. McQuistion has walked just 18 in 52 innings.

While Bailey takes nothing away from what his team has accomplished during the regular season, he knows it will take something extra to win this weekend.

"Roberto Clemente said, 'I'd rather be lucky than good.' I believe in that," Bailey said. "I'm sure that's had something to do with [our season], but the fact we've scored in double figures in 15 or 20 of those [wins] didn't hurt. There's no luck involved with that."

If State wins today, it will play again at 7 p.m. Friday against the winner of today's Concord-UPJ game. A loss puts the Jackets in Friday's first game, an 11 a.m. contest against the West Chester-Kutztown loser.

The tournament continues through Sunday, and the winner advances to the Division II championship tournament May 24-31  at GSC Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.