Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Selected For NCAA Regional
May 16, 2010 | Cowgirl Softball
May 16, 2010
Stillwater, Okla. — Oklahoma State's 14th-ranked Cowgirl softball team has been selected to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division I Softball Championship, it was announced Sunday night. OSU (43-13) will travel to Tucson, Ariz., and and play Hofstra (43-10) in the first round on Friday, May 21.
“We knew we were going to be in it (the NCAA Tournament) this year, it was just a matter of where,” said OSU head coach Rich Wieligman. “We're all excited. The girls are excited and I'm happy for them. This is two-straight years and it couldn't happen to a better group of girls.”
The other two teams in the Tucson Regional are third-ranked Arizona (43-11) and Cornell (37-13). Despite a No. 3 ranking entering last week, the Wildcats are the No. 10 seed in the tournament. The regional tournament is a double-elimination format with the winner of the regional advancing to the super regional. Eight super-regional winners will advance to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
“When you go to an NCAA Regional, you have to throw seedings out the door and just be ready to play every game,” said Wieligman. “We're all starting on a fresh slate right now. Everyone is 0-0 going into regionals. We just need to get out there and play.”
The Hofstra Pride won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament title last week and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma State received an at-large bid to the tournament for the second-straight season and the 17th time in school history.
“It felt better this year because we knew our name was going to be up there, we just didn't know where,” said Cowgirl third-baseman Mariah Gearhart. “So, it was reassuring in that respect. I'm really excited with what we got and we have a good chance and we can definitely compete out there. I'm so happy because my whole family gets to be there it's so close to my home.”
Oklahoma State is one of seven teams from the Big 12 Conference who were selected for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. Other Big 12 schools were Texas Tech (Stanford regional), Missouri (Columbia regional), Texas A&M (Baton Rouge regional), Texas (Austin regional), Oklahoma (College Park regional), and Nebraska (Seattle regional).
2010 NCAA DIVISION I SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
LEFT SIDE OF BRACKET
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)
RIGHT SIDE OF BRACKET
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)
* Indicates host institution
