The NCAA softball regionals kicks off Friday, May 20th and features 64 of the top teams in the nation. Out of these 64 teams, only 16 will make it into the super regionals. So what teams are expected to make it out and are there any surprises that could happen?
Check out this Tweet that features the schedule of games and what channel the games will be on!
Orlando Regional
Teams: University of Central Florida (UCF) no.16, Michigan, Villanova, South Dakota State
With the UCF being the only seeded team in this regional, they are expected to do some big things. UCF is actually the only team seeded that is outside of the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and PAC-12. To add on, this is also their first time in program history hosting a regional! After beating no.3 Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Georgia, and Texas this season, they deserve to be hosts! They are led on offense by Jada Cody, a sophomore who has a .369 average and 12 homers on the season. Senior Gianna Manacha is one of the starting pitchers who has 172 strikeouts on the season and a 1.70 ERA. The knights will be a force to reckon with in this regional.
Michigan will be another team to watch out for in this regional. Michigan and UCF played each other earlier in the season, with Michigan coming out on top, winning 6-0. Michigan also has top-ten ranked pitcher, Alex Storako on their roster. Storako has 284 strikeouts on the year and has a 1.69 ERA. If UCF and Michigan end up playing each other in this regional, UCF will be looking to beat an opponent they lost to earlier. But don’t count Villanova or South Dakota State out, anything can happen!
Oklahoma Regional
Teams: No. 1 Oklahoma (OU), Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M, Minnesota
No. 1 Oklahoma will look to dominate this regional and should easily be able to do that. Oklahoma has a lot of big names on their team that are going to help lead their team to the super regionals. First, OU has homerun queen Jocelyn Alo on their offense who has the most homeruns in NCAA history, with 25 home runs on the season. Also leading their offense is Tiare Jennings, Grace Lyons and Jayda Coleman. Freshman Jordy Bahl leads the pitching with a 0.81 team ERA. However, there are reports that she is taking it day-to-day with an arm injury, which could affect the OU team. But don’t worry, OU has another stellar pitcher, Hope Trautwein who has 135 strikeouts on the season. With OU only losing two games this season, they should be able to make it to the super regionals fairly easily.
Texas A&M is also a team to look out for in this regional. They won the series over no.6 Alabama and took a game from no.14 Florida. Minnesota is also coming off of a big win, so they could also be one to watch during this regional.
Evanston Regional
Teams: No. 9 Northwestern, Oakland, Notre Dame, McNeese
Northwestern is coming off hot after winning the Big Ten tournament. On their roster is Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, Danielle Williams who has a 1.53 ERA nad 287 strikeouts. Williams is ranked in top-ten for strikeouts in the season. Big Ten Player of the Year, Rachel Lewis is also on the Wildcats roster. Lewis has 20 homers on the season and has hit 52 RBI’s.
Notre Dame is also a team to watch for in this regional. Notre Dame beat Northwestern in the regular season and is looking to repeat that win in regionals. Karina Gaskins leads their offense with a .434 average and 13 homers.
Tempe Regional
Teams: No. 8 Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, LSU, San Diego State
Arizona State is coming off a huge win after winning the Pac-12 title and beating Washington and UCLA. Cydney Sanders is a huge asset to this Arizona team, as she leads the Devils with a .417 average at the plate. Sanders is also just a freshman so seeing what she can do in the offseason is definitely something to look forward to.
LSU is also coming into this regional with players like Taylor Pleasants and Georgia Clark. Even though LSU has some losses on their season, when they are on, they are on. This team could potentially cause some serious upsets. San Diego State is also coming into this regional with a freshman that could do some serious damage. Mac Barbara is batting .395 on the season and was named the Mountain West Player of the year. This regional is going to be tough.
Los Angeles Regional
Teams: No. 5 UCLA, Grand Canyon, Ole Miss, Loyola Marymount
UCLA comes into this regional with Megan Faraimo in the circle. Faraimo has 252 strikeouts on the season with a 1.75 ERA. Briana Perez leads the offense with 10 homers and was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. UCLA is the expected team to come out of this regional but they have had some characteristic losses throughout the season that could happen again in regionals.
Ole Miss beat Missouri, Tennessee, and Georgia this season which makes the Rebels a serious threat to UCLA. Grand Canyon is headed into the postseason for the first time in history, so they could also cause an upset!
Durham Regional
Teams: No. 12 Duke, Georgia, Liberty, UMBC
After Georgia upsetted Duke last year in regionals, Duke is looking to switch that outcome and not have a repeat of last year. Duke only lost eight games this year and is looking to make a long postseason run. The Devils are led in the circle by Peyton St. George, who has a 2.02 ERA and 171 strikeouts. St. George will have to work hard against the Georgia offense as the Dawgs have Sara Mosley, who is a powerhouse in the batter's box. Mosley has 17 homeruns this season and a .430 average. Six of Georgia’s players are going into the postseason with their home run totals in the double digits!
UMBC will be an interesting team to watch during this regional. UMBC has the pitching staff that could help them do big things in this regional. Courtney Coppersmith ranks second in the NCAA with a 0.26 ERA. Kya Matter, another pitcher for UMBA also ranks in the top 10 with a 0.98 ERA. Liberty also has a chance to cause an upset in this regional as they have already beat Duke once this season!
Seattle Regional
Teams: No.13 Washington, Weber State, Texas, Lehigh
USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalists, Baylee Klinger leads Washington’s offense. She is hitting a .433 with 22 home-runs and a .955 slugging percentage. Washington also has a great player leading their defense, Gabbie Plain. Plain has a 2.02 ERA.
Texas will be a tough competitor in this regional. Texas made headlines as they were the first team to beat No.1 Oklahoma this season, meaning they are capable of anything. Hailey Dolcini is an important part of the pitching staff at Texas as she has 189 strikeouts on the season.
Fayetteville Regional
Teams: No.4 Arkansas, Princeton, Oregon, Wichita State
Arkansas is coming into the postseason hot after winning their first-ever SEC tournament title. On their roster is SEC Pitcher of the Year, Chinese Delce and SEC Player of the Year, KB Sides. Leading the Razorbacks is SEC Coach of the year Courtney Deifel. This team is built of great players and a powerful coaching staff which could take this far in this regional and during the postseason.
Wichita State will come into this regional with Sydney McKinney who leads the NCAA in batting average. Oregon, Wichita State and Princeton are three teams that could cause an upset against the Razorbacks.
Blacksburg Regional
Teams: No. 3 Virginia Tech, Miami (OH), Saint Francis, Kentucky
Virginia Tech will be hosting a regional for the first time in history. Two Emma’s have been helping out this team and will be looking to lead them to super regionals. Emma Lemley has been provided help in the circle, while Emma Ritter has been helping the team offensively. However, a big player to watch at Virginia Tech is Keely Rochard who has 293 strikeouts on the season and helped lead the team to postseason last year.
Miami has a strong offense led by Karli Spaid, who ranks second in the NCAA with 27 home runs.
Gainesville Regional
Teams: No.14 Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Canisius
A standout freshman will be one to watch for Florida. Kendra Falby has a .384 batting average and will look to help the team out offensively this weekend. Hannah Adams, will look to be back on the field this weekend after suffering an injury.
Wisconsin has beat Nebraska, Clemson and Minnesota this season so there is a chance they could upset Florida. Wisconsin has 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year, Kayla Konwent who leads the Badgers offensively with a .377 average.
Knoxville Regional
Teams: No.11 Tennessee, Oregon State, Ohio State
Tennessee will look to their offense to help them make it past regionals. They have five players who are in the double digits in home runs. Kiki Milloy leads the team with 14 homers. Tennessee has had a tough schedule this season, so they know the competition they will face in this regional.
Oregon State is a team that could cause upsets in the regional and further down in the tournament. Oregon State has taken down Tennessee before and will look to do the same this weekend. Oregon State has struggled a bit later in the season but will look to get back on a winning streak.
Tuscaloosa Regional
Teams: No. 6 Alabama, Chattanooga, Murray State, Stanford
Montana Fouts has become a household name in NCAA softball and will look to lead Alabama to super regionals. Last season, Fouts was a standout in the postseason and leads Alabama this year with a 1.93 ERA. Watchout for Alabama’s freshmen this weekend, freshmen like Dallis Goodnight and Megan Bloodworth have been huge for this team all season.
Stanford is heading to this regional after finishing fourth in the Pac-12. While they may not have come out on top, they have huge wins from the regular season that could help them in the postseason. They beat five teams that were ranked in the top eight and could definitely cause an upset this weekend.
Stillwater Regional
Teams: No. 7 Oklahoma State, North Texas, Nebraska, Fordham
Oklahoma State is coming off of a huge win after being No.1 Oklahoma during the Big 12 tournament. Oklahoma State and Texas are the only two teams entering this tournament knowing that they can for sure beat Oklahoma. Having both Kelly Maxwell and Miranda Elish in the circle benefits Oklahoma State defensively. Offensively the team has big hitters like Sydney Pennington, Julia Cottrill, and Cheyenne Factor.
Nebraska has a chance to upset Oklahoma State as they are also coming off of a conference championship title. Billie Andrews is huge for Nebraska offensively.
Clemson Regional
Teams: No.10 Clemson, UNCW, Louisiana, Auburn
Clemson, a team that has only existed for three seasons, will host their first regional. Valeria Cagle leads Clemson both offensively and defensively. Cagle not only has 16 homers on the season, but also has struck out 166 batters.
Auburn has SEC Freshman of the Year, Bri Ellis who hit 18 homers this season, while slugging .757. Louisiana has the second best team batting average in the nation and are currently on a 13-game winning streak. UNCW is making its first NCAA tournament debut, and are pros at stealing bases in order to get runs.
Columbia Regional
Teams: No. 15 Missouri, Missouri State, Arizona, Illinois
Missouri has taken down Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee in the SEC tournament. Missouri will enter the tournament with almost the same roster that they had last year. So with experience this team could do some serious damage.
Arizona has the Pac-12 co-leader in home runs, Allie Skaggs, who has 22 homers on the season. Their offense also ranks top 10 in batting average as a team.
Tallahassee Regional
Teams: No.2 Florida State, Howard, South Florida, Mississippi State
Florida State is a team that is expected to make it to the Women’s College World Series. Offensively they have Kalei Harding and Michaela Edenfield, who have been consistent powerhouses for the team all season. Kathryn Sandercock leads Florida State in the circle.
University of South Florida (USF) is a team to watch in this regional. USF’s Georgina Corrick leads the NCAA with 407 strikeouts. Corrick threw two perfect games and a no-hitter this season. This team will be huge in this regional with Corrick in the circle.
Make sure to follow along with regionals to see who has a chance to advance to the Women's College World Series!
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