Oregon to Face Penn State in South Carolina

The Ducks have a 3-0 all-time record against Penn State.

Oregon will play Penn State in the first game of its 2007 Regional in South Carolina. Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - The University of Oregon softball team will travel to Columbia, S.C., for the NCAA Regional tournament hosted by the University of South Carolina being held Friday-Sunday, May 18th-20th.

Oregon, which earned a No. 2 seed will face No. 3 seeded Penn State (26-23) Friday at 1:00 PM PDT (4:00 PM EDT), as it begins its quest for its first Women’s College World Series appearance since 1989.

Oregon ended its regular season with a 42-17 overall record and a 7-14 finish in the Pac-10 Conference, winning three of its last four. The Ducks’ 42 victories this year tie for the second most in Oregon history, also accomplished in 2004.

Oregon has now advanced to the postseason in four of head coach’s Kathy Arendsen’s five seasons, missing out in 2006 only.

Also in the Columbia Regional with Oregon and Penn State is the No. 15 overall seed and No. 1 seed in the Regional, North Carolina State (41-19). The Wolfpack will play South Carolina on Friday at 4:00 PM PDT.

Friday’s game will be a rematch for Oregon and Penn State. The Ducks and Nittany Lions played one another in game one of the 2003 No. 6 Regional, located in Fullerton, Calif.

The Ducks won 10-8, and have a 3-0 all-time record against Penn State. The Nittany Lions recently suffered a 10-2 loss to Ohio State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Under Arendsen, the Ducks have advanced to the regional championship game in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, Florida State defeated Oregon 2-0 for the right to advance to the WCWS.

The Ducks have advanced to the NCAA Regionals on nine occasions (1989, 1990, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005).

The defending champion University of Arizona was named the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship today when the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced the 64-team field.

The Wildcats, champions of the Pac-10 Conference, are 39-12-1 and will open play against the automatic qualifier from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (winner of North Carolina A&T University vs. Howard University), May 18th, in front of a home crowd in Tucson.

Twenty-nine conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 35 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend.

Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during regional competition, when possible.

The Pac-10 led all conferences with eight teams in the championship, while the Southeastern Conference placed seven, the Big 12 Conference has six, and the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big West Conference each had five.

California State University, Fresno, remains the only team to be selected to all 26 championships.

Five teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Sam Houston State University, Eastern Michigan University, Stetson University, Winthrop University, and Furman University.

Only eight schools have been crowned champion, all of which are in this year’s bracket.

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