The hosts of the eight NCAA softball regionals were selected
Monday by the NCAA softball committee.
UCLA was not on the list.
The No. 2 Bruins were the highest ranked team not to host a
regional.
As a result of Sept. 11, 2001, the NCAA wanted to minimize
travel, so the top eight teams were no longer guaranteed to host a
regional, as had been the case every year up until 2001.
Last season, UCLA put up $40,000 for lights at Easton Stadium, a
requirement for NCAA regional host schools.
The Bruins were sent to Columbia, S.C. last season despite being
ranked No. 1 at the time.
This season, based solely on the rankings of the host schools,
UCLA will likely be sent to either Alabama, Florida, Fresno State
or Michigan.
The final bracket of the double-elimination tournament will be
announced on Sunday, May 11 at 7 p.m.
This is the first season in which the regional sites were
determined before the season ended.
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All of the wins in the UCLA softball team’s current
six-game winning streak have one thing in common ““ late
inning heroics.
Of the Bruins’ 28 runs scored over the past two weeks, 22
have been in their last two trips to the plate.
“That’s what good teams do,” UCLA coach Sue
Enquist said. “They stay in the hunt and compete.”
Lately, several players have stepped up during the Bruins’
close games. In Sunday’s 3-2 win over Stanford, Natasha
Watley hit a game-tying homer in the fifth inning and a walk-off
home run in the eighth.
“Watley’s awesome,” third baseman Toria Auelua
said. “She’s so much fun to watch.”
Auelua had a clutch hit of her own Saturday. She came to the
plate in the sixth inning of a scoreless game with Emily Zaplatosch
on first with two outs.
Stanford had just pitched around Zaplatosch to get to Auelua,
who was only batting .223 on the year.
But Auelua hit a double to the left-centerfield wall, scoring
Zaplatosch and helping the Bruins win 1-0.
“I went into the at bat with confidence,” Auelua
said. “I haven’t hit as well as I’ve wanted to
(this year), but I still had confidence.”