MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama softball will play in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional this weekend, the Jaguars learned Sunday when the 64-team NCAA Division I Softball Championship field was announced.
South Alabama (40-12) opens regional play Friday at 3:30 p.m. Central against USC Upstate (45-7) in Tuscaloosa. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The selection came days after the Jaguars lost in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game.
Third Straight NCAA Trip
This will be South Alabama’s third consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and its second trip to Tuscaloosa in three years. In 2012, the Jaguars advanced to the final of the Tuscaloosa Regional before falling to Alabama, which went on to win the Women’s College World Series that season.
In that 2012 regional, South Alabama beat Georgia Tech 4-3, lost 5-2 to Alabama, beat Georgia Tech again 10-1 to reach the championship game and then lost 6-0 to the Crimson Tide.
First Meeting With USC Upstate
Friday’s game will be the first meeting between South Alabama and USC Upstate. The Spartans have been ranked in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls for the last five weeks and for six weeks overall this season. USC Upstate has also broken its previous Division I school record of 42 wins.
Host Alabama, SIU-Edwardsville Complete Field
Second-ranked Alabama hosts the regional. The Crimson Tide won their fourth SEC regular-season title in five years and have been a No. 2 national seed in three of the last four years. Alabama opens against SIU-Edwardsville.
South Alabama is 0-9 all-time against Alabama and 0-6 in Tuscaloosa. The Jaguars’ most recent meeting with the Tide was a 3-0 loss on April 2.
South Alabama is 0-1 all-time against SIU-Edwardsville after a 2-1 loss to the Cougars last season at the Bulldog Classic in Starkville, Miss. The Jaguars won 12 straight games after that loss. SIUE (30-21) earned an automatic bid by beating Murray State 12-1 in six innings to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Clark on the Draw
South Alabama head coach Becky Clark said she does not focus on where her team is sent.
“Everyone always asks, ‘Where do you want to go, and who do you hope you’ll get?’ I don’t get caught up in all that. [The selection committee] tells you where to go, and you go there and compete,” Clark said. “We’re very grateful to be in the postseason, and we look forward to getting back on the field and competing.”
Clark said the Jaguars schedule Alabama during the regular season with the possibility of a regional meeting in mind.
“We play [Alabama] during the regular season every year, because we know there’s a chance we’ll see them in a regional tournament. It helps from the standpoint that we’ve already played them on their field this year, and that’s why we make the trek up there for a midweek,” Clark said. “They always have a great crowd and atmosphere. We know it’ll be the same this year. The crowd this past weekend at ULL [for the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament] was loud and passionate, and we know we’ll get the same thing in Tuscaloosa. We’re looking forward to it.”
Around the Bracket
- Oregon earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 64-team tournament.
- Sun Belt Tournament champion Louisiana-Lafayette, the No. 6 national seed, hosts the Lafayette Regional and opens against Texas Southern; Texas plays Mississippi State in the other first-round game.
- Auburn plays North Dakota State in the Minneapolis Regional, which also includes No. 16 seed Minnesota and Green Bay.
- No. 8 seed Florida State hosts the Tallahassee Regional with Fordham, South Carolina and South Florida.
Update: Jaguars Move Up in Poll Before Opener
South Alabama moved up one spot in the national polls before regional play, entering the weekend ranked No. 21 or No. 22, depending on the poll. USC Upstate, based in Spartanburg, S.C., is ranked No. 24; the Spartans lost to Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
Host Alabama is holding its 10th consecutive regional and plays SIU-Edwardsville at 6 p.m. Friday.
South Alabama reached the regional final in both of its previous NCAA tournament appearances. Last season, the Jaguars hosted their first regional; after beating Mississippi State in an elimination game, they lost to No. 19 Florida State 8-7 in eight innings.
