University of Washington - Home

May 15, 2011

NCAA Bracket

SEATTLE - The UW softball team gathered in its boardroom Sunday night waiting to see its fate in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The room exploded in applause when the Huskies found out they were hosting for the second-straight season.

Game times:
Thursday, May 19
Game 1: Auburn vs. BYU - 3:30 p.m.
Game 2: PSU vs. UW - 6 p.m.

Friday, May 20
Game 3: winner of game 1 vs. winner of game 2 - 3 p.m.
Game 4: Loser of game 1 vs. loser of game 2 - 5:30 pm
Game 5: winner of game four vs. loser of game three - 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 21
Game 6: winner of game three vs. winner of game 5 - 2:30 p.m.
Game 7 (If necessary): winner of game six vs. loser of game six

All Husky games are on 1150 AM KKNW with John Cowley and Mike Brown calling the action.

This is the 18th-straight postseason appearance. The Huskies have been to 10 WCWS and won the 2009 National Championship.

There were 30 automatic berths to the tournament and, 34 at -large selections. There are 16 four-team regioinals. The winner of each double-elimination regional will advance to a best-of-three Super Regional and that will be one of eight teams to advance to the WCWS in Oklahoma City, June 2-8.

Tickets are on sale at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 206-543-2200 or each day of the Regional at the stadium ticket office. All session tickets available for purchase for $33 for reserved infield, $24 for general admission adult and $18 for general admission youth/seniors.

Single session tickets are $14 for the reserved seating, $10 for general outfield for adults, $8 for general outfield for youth/seniors and $6 for general outfield for students with ID.

About Auburn
The No. 23/24 Auburn Tigers (39-17, 15-13 SEC) are making their fourth-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the only other ranked team in the Seattle Regional. The Tigers finished seventh in the Southeastern Conference, but upset Florida in the SEC Tournament before bowing out to eventual champions, Tennessee. The Tigers began the season with a 15-game win streak before suffering their first loss to Oklahoma on March 4. They were receiving votes for the first three weeks in the NFCA poll and have been ranked for each of the last 11 weeks, appearing as high as No. 22.

Morgan Estell leads the team with a .378 average and six homers. Three Tigers have gone deep six times this year. Angel Bunner and Lauren Schmalz have led the Tigers in the circle at 16-6 and 14-6, respectively. Bunner leads the team with a 1.58 ERA. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .282 and have a 2.58 team ERA.

Washington and the Tigers have met three previous times with UW the victor in each. The last meeting was a 5-0 Husky win on Feb. 11 of last season.

About BYU
BYU claimed its third-consecutive Mountain West Conference title this season after advancing to Super Regionals in 2010. The Cougars (38-16, 11-2 MWC) have a 2-4 record against Pac-10 opponents this year. They went 0-2 against Oregon and Stanford and 1-1 against UCLA and Cal. They also dropped their only meeting with Portland State.

The Cougars began the season ranked No. 16 in the NFCA poll but fell out of the top-25 in the fourth week and never re-entered the poll. They boast a 9-2 road record and a 15-14 record on neutral turf while posting an undefeated 14-0 record at home.

JC Clayton leads six Cougars with a batting average over-.300 at a .384 clip. Jessica Fitu leads the squad with 12 homers as one of three Cougars with at least 10 homers. Paige Affleck has a 24-11 record in the circle with a 1-97 ERA to lead the team, including six shutouts and 207 strikeouts.

UW leads the series vs. the Cougars 3-2, winning the last two meetings, including an 8-0 victory of Feb. 25, 2010.

About Portland State
Portland State enters the postseason as the Pacific Coast Softball Conference champion. The Vikings (34-16, 16-4 PCSC) defeated Loyola Marymount for their second title in three years. They last won the conference in 2009 but did not advance past the Stanford Regional.

The Vikings have posted wins over BYU and Oregon State this season. However, they posted a 1-8 record against Pac-10 opponents this year. The Vikings and Huskies were supposed to meet in the Husky Classic in March but were rained out.

Jenna Krogh leads the team with a .405 batting average while Carly McEachran has supplied a team-leading six homers. Nicole Latham and Anna Bertrand split time in the circle with identical 16-8 records. Latham posted a 1.71 ERA to lead the team and had six shutouts. As a team, the Vikings boast a .311 batting average and a 2.03 team ERA.

The Huskies lead the overall series 37-1 and have won the last five meetings dating back to 2008.