May 13, 2001 SEATTLE - The Washington softball team, which has advanced to five consecutive College World Series, will begin its journey through the 2001 NCAA tournament in Norman, Okla., May 17-20. The Huskies earned a No. 2 seed and will play fifth-seeded Seton Hall Thursday at 2:30 p.m., at the University of Oklahoma Softball Complex. Joining UW and Seton Hall at the region No. 5 double-elimination tournament is top-seed and defending national champion Oklahoma, third seed North Carolina, fourth seed Massachusetts and sixth seed Lehigh. "The thing I like about our region is that we have not seen any of the teams this year and they haven't seen us," UW head coach Teresa Wilson said. "I would rather face a team we have not played than a team we have seen two or three times, especially since early in the season we weren't as successful as we might have been. Overall, I am happy with where we are at." The Huskies, who earned their eighth consecutive NCAA tournament berth, are forced to hit the road for regional action for the first time since 1997. Three years ago Washington traveled to Norman, Okla., going a perfect 3-0 en route to its second world series appearance. The Huskies have also gone to Northridge, Calif., and Lafayette, La., for regional action in 1993 and 1994. Washington has not lost a regional game since 1995, carrying a 17-game win streak into Thursday's meeting with Seton Hall. The Huskies have never faced Seton Hall, North Carolina or Lehigh, while they own winning records over both the Sooners (3-2) and UMass (4-0). In all, the Pac-10 Conference had seven of its eight squads earn bids to the 48-team tournament. Arizona, which claimed the tournament's top seed, UCLA and Stanford each earned one of the eight No. 1 seeds. Other Pac-10 schools making the tournament include California (second seed in region No. 8), Arizona State (two seed in region No. 3) and Oregon State (three seed in region No. 4). Washington will head back out to the practice field Monday before traveling to Norman Tuesday morning.
2001 NCAA Softball Championships - Region No. 5 Tournament
Thursday, May 17 |
