Despite strong efforts both Fresno State and Hawaii fell in the NCAA Tournament. Both teams went 3-2 in regionals. The last time that the Rainbow Wahine won three games in a regionals was 1999 when they went 3-2 in Seattle, Wash. The Bulldogs last won three games in 2000.
No. 6-seeded Southwest Texas scored unearned single runs in the first and third innings, and used a four-hit, three-strikeout performance by junior hurler Nicole Neuerburg to post a 2-1 victory over No. 5 regional seed Hawaii in the final elimination bracket game. Hawaii ends its season at 40-20 after losing to Southwest Texas State, 2-1. Sophomore right-hander Melissa Coogan took the loss for the Rainbow Wahine. Coogan (32-11) went the distance, yielding two unearned runs, striking out five and walking one.
The Rainbow Wahine did defeat No. 2 Northwestern, 1-0, and No. 3 Arizona State, 4-2. Hawaiis losses came against SW Texas State and No. 4 LSU.
Michigan State defeated Fresno State 2-0 in an elimination game in the NCAA Softball Regional in Fresno, Calif. Only two Fresno State players managed hits, Mitzi Ing and Jamie Southern. The Bulldogs advanced only one runner as far as second base the entire game.
Southern pitched all of Fresno State's 36 innings in the regional. She allowed only four earned runs in five games, striking out 39 while walking just nine. Despite that, Southern took the loss against Michigan State, dropping her record on the year to 25-12.