Softball Earns No. 15 Seed in NCAA; Will Host Regional May 18-20
Cards will face Valparaiso Friday at 7; Kentucky and Michigan will play at 4:30 p.m.; all games will be shown on ESPN2 or ESPN3
 
Tori Collins


Tori Collins

May 13, 2012

Regional Central | UofL NCAA Tournament Central | 2012 NCAA Softball Bracket Get Acrobat Reader

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville softball team earned the No. 15 seed in the NCAA tournament and has been selected as a host site for NCAA softball regional May 18-20 at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards (53-3) will face Valparaiso (42-17) Friday at 7 p.m. with Kentucky (29-28) and Michigan (39-15) meeting at 4:30 p.m. Friday. All Louisville Regional games will be carried on ESPN or ESPN2, as well as ESPN3.

This marks Louisville's ninth consecutive NCAA tournament bid and the third time it has served as a regional site host. The Cards also hosted in 2009 and 2011.

The winner of the Louisville regional meet up with the winner from the Tuscaloosa region, which features No. 2 seed Alabama, which will play UT-Martin. Georgia Tech and South Alabama will face off in the other first round game of that regional.

"We are excited to be at home with Valparaiso, Michigan and Kentucky this weekend. This is a tough region and we have to take it one game at a time, just like we have all season," said U of L head coach Sandy Pearsall. "We hope the fans will come out and enjoy some exciting softball."

Louisville Regional - May 18-20 in Louisville, Ky.
No. 15 seed Louisville* (53-3) vs. Valparaiso (42-17)
Kentucky (29-28) vs. Michigan (39-15)

NCAA Regional Schedule
Friday, May 18
Game 1 - Kentucky vs. Michigan - 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)
Game 2 - Valparaiso vs. Louisville - 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)

Saturday, May 19
Game 3 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 3:00 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 5:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Game 5 - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 8:00 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)

Sunday, May 20
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 - 1 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)
Game 7 - (If necessary) - 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)

Ticket Information
Adult All-Session $25.00
Child All-Session $15.00
Student/Senior All-Session $15.00
Adult Single Session $10.00
Child Single Session $7.00
Student/Senior Single-Session $7.00
Group and berm: $5.00 Single Session only

Parking
Due to the state high school track and field championships in session through Saturday at the adjacent Cardinal Park Stadium, free parking will be available at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. A free shuttle service to Ulmer Stadium and back will run beginning at 2 p.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday, with pickup at the bus terminal on the southeast side of the stadium. For Sunday's championship game(s), fans are encouraged to use the nearby parking garage and surface parking as there will be no shuttle service that day.

About Louisville
Louisville earned the BIG EAST Conference automatic bid by defeating Notre Dame 4-3 Saturday in the conference tournament title game. The Cardinals also won the league's regular season title with a 20-2 mark in conference play.

U of L is led offensively by senior Kristin Austin who is batting .402 with 44 runs and eight triples on the season. Junior Alicja Wolny follows at .377 with 13 doubles, eight home runs and 37 RBIs. Sophomore Taner Fowler is hitting .372 and has a team-best 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. Senior Tori Collins (24-1) carries a 1.25 ERA with 179 strikeouts in 167.1 innings.

 

 

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