For the first time since 1995, the Western Athletic Conference will send four softball teams to the NCAA Tournament. WAC Tournament champion, Louisiana Tech will be joined by Fresno State, Nevada and Hawai`i in postseason this year. In 1995, Fresno State, Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State and Utah were the quartet advancing to the postseason. 1995 was also the last time that Louisiana Tech made a postseason appearance.
Click Here for a Complete Softball Bracket
The NCAA crystal ball revealed that the Lady Techsters (35-27) will be the No. 3 seed in the College Station region as Tech will face Southeastern Conference foe Auburn (37-20) in its first game. The NCAA Tournament appearance will be the ninth for Louisiana Tech in the program's history but the first since 1995 when Tech fell to Washington (1-0) and Nicholls State (4-1) in the first two games of the double elimination regional.
Fresno State will play in the friendly confines of Bulldog Stadium after earning the overall No. 16 seed. In their first game, the Bulldogs will take on forme WA school, Sacramento State who now play in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference. Another former WAC school, San Diego State will take on California in its first game. Fresno State is the only team to be selected to all 27 championships.
The Nevada softball team received its first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and the Wolf Pack will take on Purdue at the UCLA Regional on Friday. Nevada won the regular season title in the Western Athletic Conference and finished the season with a 42-16 record. Nevada and Purdue join UCLA and Cal State Fullerton at the Regional location.
Hawai`i returns to the NCAA Tournament one year after being the first WAC team to reach an NCAA Super Regional. The Rainbow Wahine will make the trip to the Valley of the Sun where sixth-seed Arizona State will host. Hawai`i will take on Mississippi State in the first game. Host Arizona State will take on Stony Brook.
The SEC led all conferences with eight teams in the championship, while the Pacific-10 placed seven. Six conferences tied for third with four bids to the tournament. California State University, Fresno, remains the only team to be selected to all 27 championships. Four teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Delaware State, Purdue, Stephen F. Austin and Stony Brook.
Gainesville Regional - May 16-18 at Gainesville, Florida
* Indicates host institution *No. 1 seed Florida (62-2) vs. Georgia Tech (31-29)
Central Florida (46-18) vs. South Florida (44-18)
Fresno Regional - May 16-18 at Fresno, California
San Diego State (43-15) vs. California (40-24)
Sacramento State (32-19) vs. *No. 16 seed Fresno St. (51-11)
Baton Rouge Regional - May 16-18 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
*No. 9 seed LSU (42-16) vs. Mississippi Valley St. (28-26)
East Carolina (36-28) vs. La.-Lafayette (46-12)
Houston Regional - May 16-18 at Houston, Texas
Washington (28-23-1) vs. Texas (28-21-2)
Delaware State (29-23) vs. *No. 8 seed Houston (50-9)
College Station Regional - May 16-18 at College Station, Texas
*No. 5 seed Texas A&M (49-7) vs. Stephen F. Austin (36-23)
Louisiana Tech (35-27) vs. Auburn (37-20)
Amherst Regional - May 16-18 at Amherst, Massachusetts
* Massachusetts (36-11) vs. Princeton (25-22)
Lehigh (38-15-1) vs. No. 12 seed Stanford (46-12)
Knoxville Regional - May 16-18 at Knoxville, Tennessee
*No. 13 seed Tennessee (47-14) vs. Winthrop (36-17)
Louisville (30-21) vs. Virginia Tech (44-15)
Ann Arbor Regional - May 16-18 at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Notre Dame (37-20-1) vs. Kent State (44-10)
Wright State (33-24) vs. *No. 4 seed Michigan (48-6)
Tuscaloosa Regional - May 15-17 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
*No. 3 seed Alabama (51-6) vs. Chattanooga (41-20)
Jacksonville St. (38-14) vs. Florida St. (37-26)
Iowa City Regional - May 16-18 at Iowa City, Iowa
Missouri (44-15) vs. *Iowa (40-18)
Creighton (43-15) vs. No. 14 seed Long Beach St. (39-15)
Evanston Regional - May 16-18 at Evanston, Illinois
*No. 11 seed Northwestern (37-13) vs. Western Illinois (14-31)
Drake (29-24) vs. DePaul (48-16)
Tempe Regional - May 16-18 at Tempe, Arizona
Mississippi St. (40-20) vs. Hawai`i (38-18)
Stony Brook (33-21-1) vs. *No. 6 seed Arizona St. (56-5)
Hempstead Regional - May 16-18 at Hempstead, New York
No. 7 seed Arizona (36-16) vs. Canisius (38-12)
Long Island (34-15) vs. *Hofstra (43-11)
Norman Regional - May 16-18 at Norman, Oklahoma
Arkansas (36-27) vs. Tulsa (34-23)
Oregon (33-27) vs. *No. 10 seed Oklahoma (43-12)
Chapel Hill Regional - May 15-17 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
No. 15 seed Georgia (43-22) vs. Campbell (41-23)
Brigham Young (42-18) vs. *North Carolina (50-10-1)
Los Angeles Regional - May 16-18 at Los Angeles, California
Nevada (42-16) vs. Purdue (34-21)
Cal St. Fullerton (27-26-1) vs. *No. 2 seed UCLA (45-7)
* Hosting institution.