By:Associated Press

Final preparations are being made for the start of the College World Series this weekend.

The grounds crew is manicuring the field at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha and vendors are setting up merchandise tents.

Six of the eight teams have appeared in the CWS since the ballpark opened in 2011. NCAA director of championships and alliances Damani  Leech said at a news conference Wednesday “for a lot of the student-athletes it’s their first experience, so we’ll still get to see the wide-eyed, sort of slack-jawed expressions as they come into this stadium for the first time.”

Leech said more home runs and scoring are expected because of the new flat-seam ball.

The CWS opens Saturday in Bracket 1,  with Arkansas playing Virginia, 2 pm (CT)  and Florida meeting Miami, 7 pm (CT).  Bracket 2 play begins Sunday with LSU playing TCU, 2 pm (CT) and Vanderbilt playing Cal State-Fullerton at 7 pm (CT).  Games will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2.

The Tournament format will be double elimination in each bracket with the bracket winners playing a best 2 of 3 Championship Series beginning Monday June 22.