LBSU EARNS BERTH IN NCAA PLAYOFFS
49ers Head to Fresno
INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- After winning 19 of its last 22 games, including 10 in a row, the Long Beach State 49er softball team earned an NCAA Playoff berth for the first time since the 2000 season. LBSU will travel to Fresno State to play the Bulldogs on Thursday, May 15 at 10:00 a.m.
The 49ers finished the regular season with a 29-17 mark (17-3 Big West), and earned a No. 5 seed for the post-season.
This season will mark the 14th time that Long Beach State will make a regional appearance. Long Beach State is no stranger to the Fresno State campus, having played regionals there in 1986, ‘96, and ‘97.
Eight teams will participate at each of eight regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. Eight teams will be seeded and each of the seeded teams will be placed at one of the regional sites. The regional winners advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. (Note: The championship final is a single-game final.) Regionals will be conducted May 15-18. The WCWS will be conducted May 22-26 at the ASA Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The NCAA Division I Women's Softball Committee selected teams from the following eight regions to participate in the championship: Central, East, Northeast, South, Mideast, Midwest, West and Pacific. Twenty-six conferences have been granted automatic qualification for the 2003 championship.
The selection process consisted of selecting the teams to the field of 64. The top eight teams were seeded in order, and the remainder of the teams were placed in regional brackets to create balanced competition and avoid conference match ups when possible. Teams hosting regionals, which were named two weeks prior to team selections for the first time this year, were not guaranteed a bid to the championship.
Fans can order tickets thru the Fresno State box office at (559) 278-DOGS (3647). Tournament Bracket (Fresno State Host) • May 15-18
No. 1 seed UCLA (45-6)
No. 2 seed Georgia (55-12)
No. 3 seed Michigan State (37-17)
No. 4 seed Fresno State (33-20)
No. 5 seed Long Beach State (29-17)
No. 6 seed North Carolina (39-20-1)
No. 7 seed Long Island (29-19)
No. 8 seed Colgate (30-13)
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