No. 20 Ducks Begin Postseason March in Atlanta
- No. 20 UO Rallies Vs. No. 7 Georgia Tech 4-3 to Advance to Super Regional
- One Win Away From the Super Regional - SB Postseason Blog #3
- Howard & Moore Slam Door on Tourney #8 Seed Georgia Tech
- Moore Tames Tigers With 1-0 Shutout in NCAA Opener
- Settling Into the Heat, Humidity and Thunderstorms: Softball Blog #2
- Atlanta Here We Come: NCAA Softball Blog #1
- No. 20 Ducks Head to Atlanta for NCAA Regionals
* A NCAA tourney bracket is available in the PDF links box to the right.
With the announcement of the 64-team NCAA softball tournament field
Sunday evening, the No. 20 University of Oregon softball team (33-19,
8-13) will travel this week to the Peach State for its 15th postseason
trip in school history.
Every game in the four-team, double-elimination series will be televised
by either ESPN or ESPN2, and UO opens play against Auburn (31-24, SEC
11-17), Friday at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30 p.m. ET). The other two
teams, No. 7 and ACC champion Georgia Tech (49-9, ACC 19-2) and
Jacksonville State (30-17, Ohio Valley 13-6) will play immediately after
Friday evening.
Action continues with three games on Saturday, and at least one, if not two games on Sunday.
THIS WEEK’S POSTSEASON SOFTBALL ACTION
Site: 2010 NCAA Softball Atlanta Regional, Mewborn Field, Atlanta, Georgia (Host - Georgia Tech)
Teams: #8 seed / No. 7-ranked Georgia Tech (49-9) No. 20 Oregon (33-19), Auburn (31-24), Jacksonville State (30-17)
Team Websites: www.RamblingWreck.com / www.auburntigers.com / www.jsugamecocksports.com
NCAA Tournament Website: www.NCAASports.com
Schedule / TV Listings
Friday, May 21
Game 1: No. 2 Oregon (33-19) vs. No. 3 Auburn (31-24) 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2HD)
Game 2: No. 1 Georgia Tech (49-9) vs. No. 4 Jacksonville St. (30-17) 8 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Saturday, May 22
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 Noon (ESPNHD)
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 2:30 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 5 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Sunday, May 23
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 1 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Game 7: Same Teams (if necessary) 3:30 p.m. (ESPNHD)
FURTHER UP DOWN THE ROAD
The winner of each of this upcoming weekend’s 16 regionals advance to eight regional sites, Friday-Saturday, May 28-29 for a best-of-three series. The eight Super Regional champions then play in double elimination format in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Tuesday-Tuesday, June 1-8. More information on the NCAA tournament is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website.
The winner of the Atlanta regional will play the winner of the regional hosted by No. 9 seed Missouri (46-11) that also includes Creighton (37-21), DePaul (38-16) and Illinois (43-6). UO beat Creighton, 8-2, the opening weekend this season in Tempe; lost 8-7 to then-No. 12 Missouri a year ago in the San Diego Classic tourney; won its last meeting vs. then-No. 22 DePaul, 7-0, in 2006; and has never played Illinois.
OREGON POSTSEASON HISTORY
UO’s first postseason trip was in 1976 to the AIAW World Series, an event it returned to in 1980. The Ducks’ next regional trip in 1989 (3-1) resulted in its lone Women’s College World Series invitation where it went 1-2 with a win over South Carolina (1-0) and losses to Cal Poly Pomona (1-0) and Arizona (4-0). The Ducks also advanced to regional play in 1990 (0-2), ’94 (2-2), ’98 (2-2), ’99 (1-2) and 2000 (2-2). After a two-year absence, current first-year head coach Mike White helped the Ducks return to the regional final and only one game from the Women’s College World Series in trips in ’03 to Fullerton, Calif. (5-2) and ’04 to Tallahassee, Fla., (4-2). Oregon also scored recent regional final appearances in ’05 (2-2) and ’07 in Columbia, S.C. (2-2) and ’08 (2-2) in Norman, Okla.
DUCK / TIGER-YELLOW JACKET-GAMECOCKS SERIES HISTORY
Oregon has played Auburn once before, and won their 1999 meeting, 6-2, in early March. UO topped the Yellow Jackets in 2009 in mid-February on a 3-0 shutout by sophomore Samantha Skillingstad, and also won their prior meeting in March 2003, 2-1, by White’s former pupil Amy Harris. UO has never played Jacksonville State before.
BACK TO THE DANCE
UO capped one of its most successful regular seasons in recent memory, and its eight conference wins were its most since it won 10 in 2003 and ’04 when first-year head coach Mike White served as a Duck assistant coach. Oregon topped five different foes in the ‘Conference of Champions’ teams this season – No. 1 UW, No. 3 Arizona, No. 9 ASU, No. 13 Cal (3), OSU (2) – its most since it beat all seven rivals in ‘04.
During the non-conference slate, UO also beat five other eventual NCAA qualifiers - #16 seed Hawai’I (4-3),Creighton (8-2), Long Island (3-1), Notre Dame (4-1), and then-No. 19 Texas A&M (4-0), and lost to BYU (5-0), San Diego State (twice, 4-3, 5-2) and Texas Tech (4-3).
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Seven of the eight teams from the ‘Conference of Champions’ earned invitations into the NCAA field. Defending national champion and No. 1 Washington (45-6) was tabbed as the No. 3 seed overall Sunday, and four other of league teams also scored top-16 nods - No. 5 seed UCLA (40-11), No. 10 seed Arizona (43-11), No. 11 seed California (41-17) and No. 13 Arizona State (41-15). Oregon (33-19) and Stanford (36-17) were also awarded at-large bids.
Four league teams will host first-round action – UW, UCLA, Arizona and Stanford – and ASU will travel to Amherst, Mass.; Cal will play at Columbus, Ohio; and UO heads to Atlanta.
MORE INFORMATION
More information on game times and ticket information will be available through Georgia Tech’s www.Ramblinwreck.com website, and more tournament information is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website. Further Oregon game, travel and practice arrangements will be arranged Monday.
OPPONENT NOTES
Auburn ( www.AuburnTigers.com )is headed east to the Atlanta regional for the second straight season after it finished third in the SEC West in 2010. This weekend, the Tigers (30-24, 11-17) were seeded seventh in the SEC Tournament, and lost their opener to then-No. 5 Florida, 9-1. In last year’s NCAA regional, Auburn fell to Georgia Tech, 4-1 and Boston, 5-0. Overall, the Tigers are making a third straight NCAA trip (and fourth in the past five seasons). Leading hitters this season are junior third baseman Kyndall White (.328, 40 H, 9 2B, 13 HR, 30 RBI), sophomore designated player Amber Harrison (.297, 46 H, 11 2B, 4 HR, 29 RBI), junior first baseman Kelley Smiley (.288, 40 H) and freshman Kelsey Cartwright (.261, 40H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI), and its top pitcher is senior Anna Thompson (1.53 ERA, 17-9, 272 SO, 160.1 IP, 52 BB).
Jacksonville State ( www.jsugamecocksports.com ) is 30-17 overall and won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Gamecocks (30-17, 13-6) have won 19 of their last 23 games and look ahead to their third straight NCAA Regional appearance. In 2009, they lost in the regional final at Alabama, and in ’08, advanced to the super regional after winning the Tennessee-hosted regional. Leading hitters this season are senior center fielder Hillary Downs (.365, 54 H, 9 2B, 10 HR, 36 RBI), senior left fielder Chrissy O’Neal (.354, 56 H, 9 2B, 6 HR, 24 RBI), senior first baseman Nikki Prier (.327, 49 H, 11 2B, 8 HR, 28 RBI) and sophomore catcher Kaycee Crow (.301, 40 H, 9 HR, 24 RBI), and its top pitcher is senior Ashley Eliasson (2.48 ERA, 21-7, 110 SO, 78 BB, 200.2 IP).
Seeded eighth overall in the tourney, Georgia Tech (49-9, 19-2) won its second straight ACC title Sunday thanks to its 8-4 victory over No. 24 Florida State. Last year, the Yellow Jackets (www.RamblinWreck.com ) made their first-ever Super Regional appearance, before it fell to eventual national champion Washington. Top hitters this season are senior second baseman Jen Yee (.572, 79 H, 15 2B, 26 HR, 21 SB), junior first baseman Kristine Priebe (.340, 53 H, 9 2B, 15 HR, 57 RBI), freshman first baseman Caitlin Jordan (.339, 37 H, 7 HR, 31 RBI), sophomore shortstop Kelsi Weseman (.333, 58 H, 17 2B, 12 HR, 51 RBI) and freshman Hope Rush (.308, 52 H, 20 HR, 58 RBI). Rush is also the team’s top pitcher (1.71 ERA, 28-6, 8 SHO, 160 SO, 85 BB, 209 IP), and their two other hurlers sport more-than-respectable ERAs and win-loss records – junior Kristen Adkins (2.22 ERA, 8-2, 50 SO, 33 BB, 82 IP) and sophomore Jessica Coan (2.57 ERA, 13-1, 116 SO, 32 BB, 79 IP).
COMPLETE NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Tuscaloosa Regional - May 21-23 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
No. 1 seed Alabama* (48-9) vs. Alcorn St. (24-24)
Lipscomb (48-11) vs. UAB (36-20)
Stanford Regional - May 21-23 at Stanford, California
Stanford* (36-17) vs. Texas Tech (36-16)
UC Davis (26-27) vs. No. 16 seed Hawaii (44-13)
Columbia Regional - May 21-23 at Columbia, Missouri
No. 9 seed Missouri* (46-11) vs. Creighton (37-21)
DePaul (38-16) vs. Illinois (43-6)
Atlanta Regional - May 21-23 at Atlanta, Georgia
Oregon (33-19) vs. Auburn (30-24)
Jacksonville St. (30-17) vs. No. 8 seed Georgia Tech* (49-9)
Los Angeles Regional - May 21-23 at Los Angeles, California
No. 5 seed UCLA* (40-11) vs. St. Mary's (CA) (30-21)
Fresno St. (39-19) vs. San Diego St. (33-14)
Baton Rouge Regional - May 21-23 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Texas A&M (42-14) vs. La.-Lafayette (42-16)
McNeese St. (38-25) vs. No. 12 seed LSU* (44-14)
Amherst Regional - May 21-23 at Amherst, Massachusetts
No. 13 seed Arizona St. (41-15) vs. Boston U. (34-20)
Long Island (37-16) vs. Massachusetts* (42-8-1)
Gainesville Regional - May 21-23 at Gainesville, Florida
UCF (35-21) vs. FIU (36-19)
Bethune-Cookman (32-22) vs. No. 4 seed Florida* (43-8)
Seattle Regional - May 21-23 at Seattle, Washington
No. 3 seed Washington* (45-6) vs. North Dakota St. (33-23)
Nebraska (29-27) vs. North Carolina (40-18)
College Park Regional - May 21-23 at College Park, Maryland
Fordham (47-10) vs. Maryland* (33-22)
Syracuse (32-24) vs. No. 14 seed Oklahoma (43-10)
Columbus Regional - May 21-23 at Columbus, Ohio
No. 11 seed California (41-17) vs. Bucknell (28-18-1)
Kentucky (31-25) vs. Ohio St.* (37-12)
Athens Regional - May 21-23 at Athens, Georgia
Florida St. (43-16) vs. Radford (36-15)
Elon (38-19) vs. No. 6 Georgia* (43-11)
Austin Regional - May 20-22 at Austin, Texas
No. 7 seed Texas* (42-13) vs. Iona (28-24)
East Carolina (42-16) vs. BYU (43-11)
Tucson Regional - May 21-23 at Tucson, Arizona
Oklahoma St. (43-14) vs. Hofstra (43-10)
Cornell (37-13) vs. No. 10 seed Arizona* (43-11)
Knoxville Regional - May 21-23 at Knoxville, Tennessee
No. 15 seed Tennessee* (42-13) vs. Ball St. (43-14)
Virginia (33-21) vs. Louisville (39-17)
Ann Arbor Regional - May 21-23 at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Notre Dame (45-10) vs. Illinois State (32-18)
Wright St. (30-28-1) vs. No. 2 seed Michigan* (46-6)
CONFERENCES RECEIVING AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION:
America East - Boston U.
Atlantic Coast - Georgia Tech
Atlantic 10 - Massachusetts
Atlantic Sun - Lipscomb
Big East - Syracuse
Big South - Radford
Big Ten - Michigan
Big 12 - Oklahoma
Big West - UC Davis
Colonial Athletic - Hofstra
Conference USA - East Carolina
Horizon League - Wright St.
Ivy Group - Cornell
Metro Atlantic - Iona
Mid-American - Ball State
Mid-Eastern - Bethune-Cookman
Missouri Valley - Creighton
Mountain West - BYU
Northeast - Long Island
Ohio Valley - Jacksonville St.
Pacific-10 - Washington
Pacific Coast - St. Mary's (CA)
Patriot League - Bucknell
Southeastern - Alabama
Southern - Elon
Southland - McNeese St.
Summit - North Dakota St.
Sun Belt - La.-Lafayette
Southwestern - Alcorn St.
Western Athletic - Hawaii
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