May 14, 2009

Missouri Softball Weekly Notes in PDF Format

The Big 12 Champion Missouri softball team earned hosting rights for one of 16 NCAA Softball Regionals scheduled to begin Friday, May 15. Squads from DePaul, Illinois and Bradley will converge on University Field in Columbia, Mo., with hopes of advancing to an NCAA Super Regional tournament (May 22-24). For Missouri, 2009 marks the 13th time in 34 years that the Tigers have advanced to NCAA post season play and the fourth time in five years that the squad has been named to a regional site. Additionally, this stands as the third time in program history that Missouri has served as host to an NCAA Softball Regional, the first time coming in 1983 and again in 2005.

Missouri enters the double-elimination tournament as the No. 2 seed, behind the 15th overall seeded DePaul Blue Demons. Border opponent Illinois will begin play as the No. 3 seed, while Missouri Valley Conference Champion Bradley is seeded fourth. DePaul and Bradley will open the 28th annual NCAA Regional on Friday, May 15, at 2:30 p.m. (CT), while Missouri will square off with Illinois at 5 p.m. (CT). A complete bracket of the Columbia Regional can be found on page 21 of the notes.

Tiger Head Coach Ehren Earleywine looks to become the first Missouri softball coach to guide his team to back-to-back regional titles. In 2008, the Tigers captured the Iowa City, Iowa, Regional crown after defeating host Iowa, 5-4. Since the formation of the Missouri softball program in 1975, only four squads have earned Regional Titles (1983, 1991, 1994 and 2008). Only one other coach in program history, Jay Miller, has led the Tigers to more than one Regional Title, doing so in 1991 and again in 1994.

Extra seating has been brought in to accommodate the large crowds expected to attend the regional series at University Field. Single session tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. All-tournament tickets are also available and can be purchased at the Missouri ticket office in Mizzou Arena or by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS. Reserved all-tournament seating tickets are $50 and include a parking pass, while adult general admission all-tournament tickets are $25, with $11 prices in place for students.

At 45-9 on the year, the Missouri softball team is two wins shy of tying the highest win total in program history. Only three teams have accomplished such a feat (1995, 1997 and 2008). The meeting with Illinois will mark a program first, while potential games against DePaul and Bradley will go down as the 13th and eighth, respectively. Missouri owns a 6-1 lead in the all-time series with Bradley. The two teams first met in 1982, with Missouri's only loss to the Braves coming in 2008, 5-4.

DePaul and Missouri stand knotted at six wins each and last met in 2007 at the Carbondale, Ill., Regional. Similar to this year's bracket, in 2007, the Blue Demons played as the 14th overall seed and No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Missouri was No. 2. The opponents played two games against each other, with DePaul winning both to advance to the Super Regional Tournament and Women's College World Series.