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SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah softball team's (38-19 overall) road through the NCAA Tournament will take it through Austin, Texas, as it battles Indiana (29-23-1) in the opening round of the post season tournament on Friday, May 19. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. (CDT).
The tournament's No. 3 seed and regional host, Texas, will play UTSA in the second game set to start at 6:30 p.m. (CDT). All games will be played at Red and Charline McCombs Field on the campus of UT.
The Utes have made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, going to the World Series four times (1982, '85, '91 and '94). Their last NCAA Tournament showing was in 2004.
Utah snagged an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament with a stunning come-from-behind win over San Diego State on Saturday. The Utes were down 3-0 in the top of the sixth but out-scored the Aztecs, 5-1, in the final two innings to secure their postseason fate.
Utah was not the only conference team to get a bid. San Diego State is in Los Angeles playing Long Beach State, while Brigham Young plays host in opening up against the Kansas Jayhawks.
For the first time in its six-year history, BYU has been selected to host the NCAA Regionals at Gail Miller Field.
The NCAA berth is the second consecutive year the Cougars have been selected to play in the field of 64. Last season, BYU picked up an upset victory over second-ranked California in Fresno, Calif.
The Cougars were an at-large selection as three Mountain West Conference teams were picked to the field of 64. MWC Tournament champion Utah and regular season champion San Diego State were also selected.
"We had a great year so I'm not surprised that we got a bid," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "The nice surprise is that we will be able to play in front of a home crowd."
BYU will welcome two teams that it played during the regular season in Kansas and Southern Utah. Washington will enter the Regional as the seeded squad. The Cougars will take on the Jayhawks Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. (MDT). SUU and Washington will follow at 7 p.m.
"We've played Kansas once already this year and they are a great team," Eakin said. "Washington is a very tough team, we'll definitely have to play excellent softball this week."
The NCAA Regionals are a double-elimination format. Games will also be played on Friday and Saturday with game times to be announced.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to host," Eakin said. "We have great facilities and hope our fans come out and fill the park."
Southern Utah Softball Opens with Washington
Aside from having a home game, Southern Utah University softball coach Jodi Hermanek couldn’t have scripted the Thunderbirds’ first NCAA tournament appearance much better. Southern Utah will face No. 14 Washington in the first round of the tournament Thursday in the Provo Regional, at Brigham Young University’s Gail Miller Field at a time to be announced.
“This is exciting,” Hermanek said. “Playing at BYU is almost like playing at home for us. Playing there will help erase some of the pressure that comes with being in our first regional and playing there will also give our fans an opportunity to travel to the games and support us.
“We’ve played on that field and we’ve won on that field and I think we’re mentally ready to move on to the next step,” she added. “That’s what that tough pre-season schedule we played was all about.”
Southern Utah advanced to the tournament by virtue of its Mid-Continent Conference tournament championship. The Thunderbirds have won the Mid-Con regular season title four straight years but had not broken through with a tournament win until this season.
