INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Pacific Coast Softball Conference champion Saint Mary’s (30-21) will face No. 5 national-seed UCLA (40-11) in the first round of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, scheduled for May 21-23. Game time will be announced later.
Fresno State (39-19) and San Diego State (33-14) will meet in the other first round match-up in the regional hosted by UCLA. The Bruins, out of the Pacific 10 Conference, the Bulldogs, from the Western Athletic Conference, and the Aztecs, from the Mountain West Conference, all received at-large berths.
The Gaels earned the PCSC’s automatic berth after defeating Portland State, two games-to-one, in the inaugural PCSC Championship Series this past weekend in Moraga, Calif. After losing the first game 1-0, Saint Mary’s beat the Vikings 3-0 and 7-4 in a doubleheader on Saturday.
The PCSC Championship was the first for Saint Mary’s and the NCAA Regional bid is also the first in school history.
There will be 16, four-team regionals contested on campus sites next weekend. The 16 regional winners will meet in eight best-of-three Super Regionals, May 28-29. The eight Super Regional winners will advance to the Women’s College World Series, June 3-9 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.