Courtesy of Boston University Athletic Communications Department
Norman Regional Central | NCAA Announcement | NCAA Bracket
BOSTON – Making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years, the 2018 Patriot League champion Boston University softball team has earned a trip to the Norman (Oklahoma) Regional at Marita Hynes Field that will take place on Friday, May 18 - Sunday, May 20.
Guided by third-year head coach Ashley Waters, the Terriers (39-18) will open against No. 4 national seed and two-time defending NCAA champion Oklahoma (50-3) with Friday's ESPN2 broadcast slated for 7 p.m. ET. The contest will be a rematch of BU's earlier thrilling 4-3 upset win over the Sooners at New Mexico State's Troy Cox Classic in which sophomore Lizzie Annerino collected her first-career win by pitching 4.2 scoreless innings of relief with only four hits allowed. Seniors Kaitlin Sahlinger and Emma Wong went a combined 3-of-4 with four RBIs to lead the offense.
Oklahoma has made the NCAA tournament in every year of head coach Patty Gasso's 24 seasons at the helm of the program and in 25 straight seasons overall. Last year, OU became the fourth program ever to win back-to-back national titles. With four national titles, the Sooners trail only UCLA (11) and Arizona (8) for most in NCAA history.
Despite being the No. 6 seed, Tulsa (33-23) claimed the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid for the third time in its four seasons as a league member by defeating regular-season champion USF in the conference tournament title game, 4-1. The Golden Hurricanes will face Missouri (28-27) at 4:30 p.m. ET after the Tigers received an at-large bid from the SEC. Missouri will be making its 12th straight NCAA appearance.
The winner of the Norman Regional will play the winner of the Fayetteville Regional, which features No. 13 national seed Arkansas (39-15), Wichita State (30-21), Oklahoma State (38-20) and DePaul (35-15), in the super regional round for a trip to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
One out away from becoming a three-time regional finalist in 2014, BU is 7-16 all-time in NCAA action, having won at least one game in five of the previous eight appearances. The Terriers are 2-3 all-time against the Sooners with a 4-2 win in 1993 and 14-4 (5) loss in 2015. They will be making their first-ever trip to Norman.
Missouri is 4-1 all-time against BU with three wins in 2008 at home (3-0, 7-6, 12-6) during the Tiger Invitational. The Terriers edged Missouri, 8-7 (8), following a 4-0 loss at the University of Houston Crowne Plaza Classic. BU has never once faced Tulsa.
NCAA NORMAN REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 18
G1: 4:30 pm ET - Missouri (28-27) vs. Tulsa (33-23) - WatchESPN
G2: 7:00 pm ET - Boston University (39-14) at #4 Oklahoma (50-3) - ESPN2
Saturday, May 19
G3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
G4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
G5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Sunday, May 20
G6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
G7: (if necessary) Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6