The softball NCAA tournament brackets were announced Sunday
night, and UCLA won’t have to travel far.
The Bruins were given the No. 2 seed overall, the No. 1 seed in
their regional, hosted by Fresno State.
“Fresno is a great softball community,” UCLA coach
Sue Enquist said. “I’m very excited, we’ve got
some momentum, we’ve got a lot to hang on to from
Arizona.”
In the first round of the NCAA regionals on Thursday, UCLA
(45-6) will play Colgate (30-13) at 12:30 p.m.
The Raiders won the Patriot League, but did not play a single
ranked opponent during the season.
Should both favorites prevail, the Bruins will play their
longtime rivals, Fresno State (regional No. 4 seed) in the second
round on Friday.
“I’m not thinking about them right now,”
Enquist said. “I’m focused on Colgate. If the time
comes, I’ll worry about Fresno State. But I love the history
we share.”
The two teams played each other in the NCAA championship game in
1982, 1988 and 1990 ““ all won by UCLA.
The Bruins most intense competition may come from regional No. 2
seed Georgia (55-12) and No. 3 seed Michigan State (37-17).
Georgia won the regular season Southeastern Conference title,
and it was ranked No. 7 nationally before dropping two games at the
Southeastern Conference tournament, losing to No. 24 Florida and
unranked Tennessee.
While unranked, Michigan State finished third in the Big Ten and
could also pose a challenge.
Rounding out UCLA’s regional are No. 5 seed Long Beach
State (29-17), No. 6 seed North Carolina (39-20-1) and No. 7 seed
Long Island (29-19).
The regionals are a double-elimination tournament, with the
winners of the eight regionals qualifying for the Women’s
College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla., from May 22 to
26.