Softball Is NCAA Tournament Bound!
May 12, 2008 | Softball
May 12, 2008
2008 NCAA Softball Championship Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The East Carolina softball team is heading to the 2008 NCAA Tournament after it was awarded its second-ever bid to the Championship on Sunday evening. The Pirates will travel to Baton Rouge, La. as a participant in the Baton Rouge Regional. The bid marks the first-ever at-large selection for the program as it won an automatic spot in 1999 by winning the Big South Tournament.
East Carolina's first contest in the double-elimination regional is scheduled for Friday, May 16 at 4 p.m. CT against No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette at Tiger Park on the campus of LSU. No. 15 LSU and Mississippi Valley State face off at 7 p.m. CT in Friday's second contest. The Tigers (42-16) are the No. 9 national seed and the top seed in the regional while the Ragin Cajuns (46-12) serve as the two seed. Additionally, the Pirates arrive in Baton Rouge as the three seed and the Devilettes (26-24) are slotted as the four seed.
LSU fell to No. 3 Alabama in the SEC Tournament semifinals and earned an at-large bid while UL-Lafayette (Sun Belt Conference) and Mississippi Valley State (Southwestern Athletic Conference) won their conference tournaments to garner automatic selections.
Three other schools from Conference USA qualified for the field of 64 in No. 9 Houston, UCF and Tulsa. The Knights topped the Cougars in the C-USA Tournament title game to earn the conference's automatic bid while Houston and the Golden Hurricane received at-large spots. The Cougars were awarded the No. 8 national seed and will host a regional that contains Washington, Texas and Delaware State. The winners of the Baton Rouge and Houston regionals are slated to square off in the Super Regional round for a berth in the Women's College World Series.
East Carolina enters the NCAA Championship with a record of 36-28 and a recent semifinal appearance in the C-USA Tournament after defeating Marshall 7-2 in the quarterfinals.
All-Session tickets to the Baton Rouge Regional are $40 for adults and $25 for youth. LSU will place the all-session tickets on sale beginning Tuesday morning. Tickets may be purchased at www.lsusports.net, over the phone or at the Tigers Ticket Box Office. Individual game tickets, which go on sale Friday, are $6 adult and $4 for youth.
