TEMPE ? The Arizona State University softball team will make its 27th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, heading on the road to the Baton Rouge Regional hosted by fifth-seeded LSU from May 15-17. ?
ASU will open up the tournament against Nebraska on Friday, May 15 at 1:30 p.m. PT on ESPN3.
The Baton Rouge Regional field features Arizona State (34-20), host LSU (44-11), Nebraska (34-21) and Texas Southern (25-16). The Devils and Cornhuskers will face off in the early game on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT with LSU and Texas Southern to follow at 4 p.m. PT. The winners of each game will face each other on Saturday while the losers of the first games will battle to stave off double elimination for a chance to advance to the Super Regional.
We're heading to the Bayou!! Bring on Nebraska Friday at 1:30 PT on ESPN3 in the Baton Rouge Regional!!
? Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) May 11, 2015The Sun Devils are making their 27th appearance in NCAA Tournament history and the 11th consecutive NCAA appearance for ASU.
ASU is 85-51 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is 55-17 since 2006 in the tournament. The team has two NCAA Championships and seven trips to the WCWS in that time.
The Sun Devils and Nebraska squared off once last season at the Judi Garman Classic, winning 1-0 in eight innings on a Bailey Wigness walk-off single. It will be a team that ASU has seen plenty of in previous season, with ASU owning a 22-10 all-time record against the Cornhuskers. Two teams teams played twice in 2010, with ASU winning both games.
Nebraska advanced to the Super Regionals in 2014, dropping two games to Alabama. The squad competed in the Women’s College World Series in 2013.
With a win, the Devils could get a shot at the host Tigers of LSU. Ranked No. 1 at several times this season, LSU dropped two of its final three series and was eliminated in the first round of the SEC Tournament by Tennessee.
ASU owns a 9-4 record all-time against LSU and last played in 2012, a 6-0 ASU victory at the Women’s College World Series. ASU met LSU at home in the 2009 Regional Round, with ASU dropping the first game before coming back and taking two games from the Tigers on Elimination Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals that season and eventually the WCWS that season.
The 2009 campaign also marked the last time ASU lost 19 or more games and was relying on some true freshmen in the circle and didn’t have the luxury of a returning All-American at pitcher.
Should the Devils get out of the Regonal round this season, a potential rematch against in-state rival might be in the cards with Arizona holding the 12-seed overall and hosting a regional in the same pod as the Sun Devils in Tucson this weekend.
Regionals will be held May 15-18 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.
Super Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 21-24 on eight campus sites. At each site, two teams play in a best-of-three tournament format. The winners from each site advance to the NCAA Women’s College World Series.
The 2015 NCAA Women’s College World Series will be held at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, May 28 to June 3. This is the 34th annual NCAA Division I Softball Championship and the 25th time that Oklahoma City and ASA Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field will host this premier college softball championship event.