Duck softball to host first ever NCAA regional

EUGENE - After polishing off one of its greatest regular seasons ever, the University of Oregon softball team (39-15, Pac-12: 13-9 (3rd)) was tabbed as the #11 seed in the 64-team NCAA Softball Tournament field announced Sunday night on ESPN-U.

Looking ahead to their 14th NCAA regional appearance, the Ducks are the top seed in the four-team regional that will be held in Eugene at Howe Field on Thursday-Saturday, May 17-19.

Other teams headed to the Willamette Valley to play in the double-elimination format include BYU (43-13), Mississippi State (33-22) and Portland State (27-23).

Game times are tentatively scheduled as follows (*times listed are Pacific Time):

Thursday, May 17
3 p.m. - Game 1 - BYU vs. Mississippi State
6 p.m. - Game 2 - Oregon vs. Portland State

Friday, May 18
11 a.m. - Game 3 - Games 1 & 2 Winners
2 p.m. - Game 4 - Games 1 & 2 Losers
5 p.m. - Game 5 - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser

Saturday, May 19
Noon - Game 6 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
3 p.m. - Game 7 (if necessary) - same teams as Game 6

* Times will be confirmed and ticket information will be released on Monday.

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Earlier this season, Oregon beat Portland State in an April doubleheader in Eugene (10-4, 1-0), and was edged by BYU (2-1) in Tempe in the season-opening Kajikawa Classic in Tempe.

Returning NCAA tourney qualifier Portland State (27-23) won the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Tournament this past weekend with 6-1 and 1-0 wins over St. Mary's in the event's final two contests.

Returning Super Regional advancer BYU (43-13) won the Western Athletic Conference title in Las Cruces, N.M., last weekend with its wins over Louisiana Tech (6-1), No. 11 Hawai'i (6-4) and Fresno State (8-3).

Mississippi State (33-22) lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament last Thursday to NCAA tourney #2 seed Alabama by a 5-2 count in Tuscaloosa.

Oregon has played Mississippi State only once before (a 3-0 loss in Tempe), and owns all-time marks of 4-3 vs. BYU and 110-61 against PSU.

Looking ahead two weekends, the winner of the Eugene Regional will advance to play the winner of the Austin Regional hosted by #6 seed Texas (42-10). Other teams in that regional include Northwestern (27-27) and Auburn (33-21). If UT wins their regional, they will host the Super Regional vs. the Eugene Regional winner.

The tournament's other top-eight seeds included #1 California (50-4), #2 Alabama (50-7), #3 Arizona State (46-7), #4 Oklahoma (45-8), #5 Florida (46-11), #7 Tennessee (46-10) and #8 Texas A&M (39-16).

The remaining top-16 seeds included #9 Missouri (43-12), #10 Georgia (41-15), #12 UCLA (36-18), #13 Arizona (35-17), #14 Louisiana-Lafayette (49-4), #15 Louisville (53-3) and #16 Washington (36-17).

College softball fans can watch action from two regionals this weekend on ESPN2 and ESPN3 from the Louisville Regional (that included #15 Louisville, Kentucky, Michigan and Valparaiso) and Arizona Regional (that includes #13 Arizona, Hawai'i, North Dakota State and Notre Dame)

Next weekend, all eight NCAA Super Regonals will be televised live by various ESPN stations. The two-team, three-game format will be held on back-to-back days between Thursday-Sunday, May 24-27.

The Women's College World Series follows in Oklahoma City, Thursday, May 31-Wednesday, June 6, and every game will also be televised by the ESPN network.

More NCAA tournament information is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website.

Last weekend, the Ducks edged No.14-ranked UCLA by a 2-1 count in their three-game set in Eugene to win or tie its fifth of seven league series this spring.

In 2012, UO placed third in the 'Conference of Champions' to tied its second-best-ever finish, and Ducks defeated every league opponent in the same season for the fourth time in school history.

Under the guidance of third-year head coach Mike White, Oregon made its first-ever Super Regional trips in 2011 (42-16, Pac-12: 11-10 (3rd-t)) and 2010 (36-21, Pac-12: 8-13 (6th-t)).

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