Huskers Selected to Host NCAA Regional

Lincoln - The Nebraska softball team earned its 13th consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament and learned it will host a four-team regional at Bowlin Stadium May 18-20, when the field of 64 was announced this afternoon.

Nebraska will be hosting an NCAA Regional at Bowlin Stadium for the fourth time in the past five years. NU hosted in 2003, 2004 and 2005 before being shipped to Iowa City, Iowa, for last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Joining the Huskers (37-18) in Lincoln for the regional will be Washington (35-16), the top seed in the regional and the No. 6 national seed, Georgia (43-26) the regional’s No. 3 seed and fourth-seeded Creighton (39-12-1).

Nebraska is familiar with each of those teams, as the Huskies traveled to Lincoln for regional play in 2003 and 2005, while the Huskers beat Georgia, 2-1, earlier this season and split a pair of games with Creighton. Nebraska and Creighton are in the same regional for the fourth time in the past five years.

The winner of the Lincoln regional advances to play the winner of the Tuscaloosa regional, which features No. 11 national seed Alabama. Super Regional play will take place May 25-27 at a to-be-determined site.

Nebraska was one of six Big 12 schools to make the NCAA Tournament. Joining the Huskers in the postseason are regular-season champion Baylor, tournament winner Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Missouri and Texas. The Lady Bears, Sooners and Aggies all earned a top-eight seed, with Oklahoma earning the No. 3 seed, Texas A&M the No. 4 seed and Baylor the No. 8 seed.

NU is 37-18 this season after going 0-1 at the Big 12 Championship following an opening-round 3-1 loss to seventh-ranked Texas A&M on Friday. For a young NU squad that has shown continued improvement throughout the season that record is a bit misleading. The Huskers were victorious in 10 of their final 15 games and an April 26 loss to Kansas serves as Nebraska's lone loss to a non-ranked foe since March.

In fact, since snapping a three-game losing streak in late March, NU compiled a 17-7 record over the last month and a half. Six of the Huskers' seven losses during that stretch have come to ranked opponents, including five against top-10 foes Oklahoma and Texas A&M, with four of those contests on the road. 

The Huskers also finished fifth with a 10-8 record in a rugged Big 12 Conference. NU finished ahead of 18th-ranked Texas - which was swept by the Huskers - and behind only No. 8 Baylor, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 7 Texas A&M and a Missouri squad that just fell out of the top 25 last week following a regular-season-ending split with Nebraska. The Huskers had the added challenge of facing each of the top-four teams on the road.

On the season, the Huskers have played 21 of their 55 games against teams that have been ranked at least once this season and another four against teams currently receiving votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. While the record may not be as sparkling as the Huskers would have hoped, NU had the opportunity to post a much better record, as eight of Nebraska's 18 losses were by just one run and the Huskers also led in eight of their 18 defeats.

Given NU's tough schedule this season, it comes as no surprise that the Huskers faced a total of 15 teams in the tournament, compiling a 9-15 record against those squads. Nebraska also faced three of the top-eight seeds, going 0-7 in those games, with five contests decided by two runs or less, including three one-run defeats.

Nebraska was 2-2 in the 2006 NCAA Regional at Iowa City, as the 14th-ranked Huskers fell twice to 10th-ranked California in the only regional that featured two top-20 teams. The Huskers, who have made the most NCAA Tournament and Women's College World Series appearances of any Big 12 school, are looking to win their first regional title since 2002 and advance to Super Regional play for the first time in school history (the NCAA switched from the eight-team regional format to the regional-super regional format beginning with the 2005 NCAA Tournament).

NU is 51-37 all-time in 18 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an NCAA Regional record of 40-23. At home, the Huskers are 21-9 in postseason play, including a 7-6 mark at Bowlin Stadium.

2007 Lincoln Regional Schedule
Friday, May 18
Washington (home) vs. Creighton (away), 4 p.m. (Game 1)
Nebraska (home) vs. Georgia (away), 7 p.m. (Game 2)

Saturday, May 19
Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 1 p.m. (Game 3)
Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 4 p.m. (Game 4)
Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 7:30 p.m. (Game 5)

Sunday, May 20
Game 5 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 1 p.m. (Game 6)
Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 3:30 p.m. (Game 7)*
*if necessary