Sunday May 10, 2015
Courtesy of TheACC.com
LINK: ACC SOFTBALL: CONFERENCE-RECORD SEVEN TEAMS EARN NCAA BIDS
Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt and Virginia Tech to compete on national stage
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – A conference-record seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams were selected to the 64-team field of the 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Championship, which gets underway on May 15 and runs through June 3. Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt and Virginia Tech earned at-large bids to join Florida State, which earned the league’s automatic bid.
Ninth-seeded Florida State (45-12), competing in the NCAA Championship for the 16th consecutive season, will take on Dartmouth (25-16). The winner will then advance to take on South Carolina (37-20) or UCF (48-7) in the Tallahassee Regional. The Seminoles claimed their 13th overall league title Saturday afternoon, as they were able to defeat Pitt, 6-2.
Sixteenth-seeded Notre Dame (40-13) will host the South Bend Regional and face Ball State (33-23) in the opening round. The Fighting Irish are making their second appearance as a member of the ACC and 20th overall. Also in the regional are Kentucky (29-24) and Northwestern (28-21).
Louisville (30-17), fresh off its inaugural ACC campaign, will travel to Columbia to play Kansas (38-13) in its first game. Joining the Cardinals in the Columbia Regional is Missouri (39-14) and Indiana State (26-29). Louisville is making its 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina (36-14) returns to the championship in the Athens Regional and will face Western Kentucky (34-12) in its first game. The Tar Heels are making their 12th appearance in the tournament and first since 2013. Joining North Carolina in the Athens Regional is Georgia (40-14) and Central Connecticut State (31-12).
NC State (35-20) is making its fifth appearance in the tournament and third in a row. The Wolfpack will compete in the Harrisonburg Regional and will take on Fordham (36-18) in their first game while being joined by James Madison (47-8) and Binghamton (24-19) in the region.
Pitt (35-20), the ACC Championship runner-up, is making its first ever NCAA Championship appearance and will face California (38-16) in the first round. Joining the Panthers in the Ann Arbor Regional will be Michigan (51-6) and Oakland (27-22).
Virginia Tech (34-21) is making its eighth appearance in the tournament and fourth in a row. The Hokies will face Utah (34-17) in the first game of the Knoxville Regional and will be joined by Longwood (32-23) and Tennessee (42-14) in the region.
This year’s seven NCAA bids shatter the previous high of five selections (2006, 2007 & 2010). The ACC has had at least four teams earn tournament bids in nine of the last 11 years.
Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 15-17, 2015 on 16 campus sites. At each campus site, a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted and the 16 winning teams advance to the Super Regionals.
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