Updated at 10:07 a.m., Sunday, May 13, 2007
UH will face UC Santa Barbara in NCAA softball opener
Advertiser Staff
The University of Hawai'i softball team will play in its first NCAA Tournament since 2003 when it opens against UC Santa Barbara Friday in a regional in Los Angeles hosted by UCLA.The game is expected to be televised by ESPN.
The 64-team field was announced today. UCLA (36-16) will play Loyola Marymount (45-16) in the other Los Angeles regional opener.
Arizona (39-12-1), the defending champion, was named the top seed of the tournament.
The 12th-ranked Rainbow Wahine (46-11) lost 2 of 3 in this week's Western Athletic Conference tournament, which was won by Fresno State. The Bulldogs earned the WAC's automatic NCAA berth and will open against host Stanford on Thursday.
UCSB (30-21) finished sixth with a 7-11 record in the Big West Conference.
Hawai'i has qualified for the NCAA Championship tournament six other times: 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003.
Winners of the 16 double-elimination regionals advance to the best-of-3 super regionals. The remaining eight teams advance to the Women's College World Series, May 31 to June 6 at Oklahoma City.
