Softball Heads to NCAA Tourney
The tournament bid is the team's fourth straight.
The San Diego State softball team earned a trip to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship for the fourth consecutive season and the seventh time in 11 years, the NCAA announced Sunday.
Heading to Arizona State
The Aztecs (32-19) will play Long Beach State (37-16) at 2:30 p.m. PT Friday on the campus of Arizona State University (50-6), the tournament's No. 1 overall seed. North Dakota State University (30-25) is the other team in the double-elimination regional.
The entire Tempe Regional will be broadcast live on ESPNU, marking the third time in six years SDSU will play the first weekend of the tournament on the network (also 2006 and 2009).
Back again
San Diego State, which also made the tournament in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, is 8-12 all-time in the NCAA championship and 9-15 against teams who made this year's tournament. Earlier this season, the Aztecs defeated Tempe Regional teams North Dakota State (3-2 on Feb. 11) and California State University Long Beach (3-0 on March 3).
This year, SDSU has set program records in slugging percentage (.444), runs (252), home runs (37) and RBIs (223).
This year's tournament
This year's national tournament features 64 teams, with four teams participating at 16 regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. The regional winners will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series from May 26-29 at eight campus sites.
The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), an eight-team, double-elimination tournament with the championship final being a best-of-three series. The WCWS will be conducted June 2-8 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
