Despite struggling against the Pac-10’s best earlier this
season, UCLA was selected Monday to host an NCAA softball
regional.
In the past two years the Bruins were one of the three best
teams in the nation, but were shipped off to South Carolina and
Fresno State for regionals because of the low quality of
UCLA’s Easton Stadium.
During the off-season, UCLA’s athletic department
increased the seating capacity of the stadium to 1,000 seats, which
was enough to get a regional despite the team’s recent
performance.
That means UCLA will have all the benefits of playing at home,
assuming they qualify for the playoffs as expected
“The players know our stadium, they know the layout,
it’s comfortable,” coach Sue Enquist said. “When
you get into postseason play you want to be as comfortable as
possible.”
The increased parity in collegiate softball makes playing at
home all the more important. The fourth-ranked Bruins have dropped
just two games at home all season, although they still have home
games against top-ranked Arizona and Washington left to play.
Consequently Enquist is pleased that the team will likely have
the chance to play in front of the home crowd.
“It’s a great opportunity to have your family and
fans and everyone there to see you go play in the first
round,” she said.
UCLA will have to adjust to playing home night games, which are
required for regionals. Lights have been purchased and will be
installed in the next few weeks to compliment the additional
seating.
Attendance is one factor the NCAA considers when awarding
regionals to universities.
Although Easton Stadium’s seating capacity is smaller than
other softball powers, it should be overflowing throughout the
four-day tournament, assuming the Bruins are in contention
throughout the weekend.
“We’ve been places before where the local team gets
knocked out early, and there’s literally no one in the
stands,” Enquist said.
The NCAA is considering a team’s likelihood of winning
more when awarding regional sites, Enquist said.
This may explain why three Pac-10 teams ““ UCLA, Arizona
and Stanford ““ were all awarded regional sites even though
the NCAA tries to spread regionals throughout the nation.
Florida State, Michigan, Baylor, Georgia and Nebraska will host
the other regionals. Regional brackets will be announced on May
16.