NMSU Softball Opens NCAA Tournament Against Tucson
INDIANAPOLIS – The New Mexico State softball team, 2011 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular-season and tournament champions, learned details regarding its first NCAA Tournament selection in program history Sunday evening.
The Aggies (43-15) will travel to the Tucson Regional to face Texas Tech (40-14) of the Big XII at 5 p.m. (MT) on Friday, May 20 at host University of Arizona. Arizona (40-16) of the PAC-10, the No. 8 national seed overall, will host Ivy League champion Harvard (36-14) in the second game on Friday.
The four-team regional is a double-elimination tournament with opening games on Friday. Three games will be played on Saturday, eliminating two squads. The regional championship will be held Sunday for the right to advance to the 16-team NCAA Super Regionals.
NM State won its first WAC Tournament title on Saturday after defeating third-seeded Fresno State 5-0 in the championship game at Bulldog Diamond in Fresno, Calif. The Aggies claimed their first outright regular-season title the weekend prior after a sweep of Boise State. NM State’s win total of 43 is a program record. The Crimson and White have won 24 of their last 28 games this season.
The complete listing of NCAA Tournament games and sites is below and a PDF of the bracket is available above.
Tempe (Ariz.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 1 seed Arizona State* (50-6) vs. North Dakota State (30-25) San Diego State (32-19) vs. Long Beach State (37-16)
Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Regional – May 20-22 Chattanooga (42-12) vs. Memphis (35-12) Jackson State (24-19) vs. No. 2 Alabama* (46-8)
College Station Regional – May 20-22 LSU (38-16) vs. Syracuse (44-11) Sacred Heart (29-19) vs. No. 16 Texas A&M* (41-13)
Stanford (Calif.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 15 Stanford* (38-15) vs. Pacific (37-17) Fresno State (34-17) vs. Nebraska (39-12)
Norman (Okla.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 9 seed Oklahoma* (37-16) vs. Iona (31-20) Missouri State (29-23) vs. Tulsa (43-13)
Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional – May 20-22 Notre Dame (45-9) vs. Kentucky (36-14) Western Michigan (25-28) vs. No. 10 Michigan* (51-4)
Tucson (Ariz.) Regional – May 20-22 Texas Tech (40-14) vs. New Mexico State (43-15) Harvard (36-14) vs. No. 8 Arizona* (40-16)
Louisville (Ky.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 7 seed California (39-10) vs. Jacksonville State (39-19) Illinois-Chicago (25-22) vs. Louisville* (36-18)
Columbia (Mo.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 5 Missouri* (46-7) vs. Illinois State (35-17) DePaul (39-13) vs. Indiana (37-16)
Athens (Ga.) Regional – May 20-22 Florida State (30-26) vs. UAB (38-17) Georgia State (36-23) vs. No. 6 Georgia* (47-12)
Seattle (Wash.) Regional – May 19-21 Auburn (39-17) vs. BYU (38-16) Portland State (34-16) vs. No. 12 Washington* (34-14)
College Park (Md.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 11 seed Baylor (40-12) vs. Lehigh (33-21) East Carolina (39-20) vs. Maryland* (39-17)
University Park (Pa.) Regional – May 20-22 No. 13 seed Oregon (39-14) vs. Albany (N.Y.) (28-21) Fordham (41-17) vs. Penn State* (27-22)
Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional – May 20-22 Oklahoma State (37-17) vs. Georgia Tech (44-10) Liberty (30-28) vs. No. 14 Tennessee* (47-10)
Gainesville (Fla.) Regional – May 20-22 UCLA (33-17) vs. Jacksonville (43-14) Bethune-Cookman (33-24) vs. No. 4 Florida* (47-9)
Austin (Texas) Regional – May 20-22 No. 3 Texas* (44-8) vs. Texas State (33-23) Houston (40-16) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (49-9)
