Bethlehem, PA – The waiting is over for the Lehigh softball team. The NCAA announced the host regions and brackets for the 2005 Softball Championships Sunday evening and the Mountain Hawks are headed to
Tucson, Arizona. Lehigh will open tournament play against the host Arizona Wildcats on Friday. Princeton and
Oklahoma State are the other two teams in the region.
The Mountain Hawks earned an automatic bid to the postseason for the second straight year by winning their seventh Patriot League title earlier this month. In the process, Lehigh (41-8) established a new school and Patriot League record with 41 victories this season. Arizona is the number three seed in the 64 team field. The Wildcats (39-10) won a share of the Pac-10 regular season title and are hosting a softball regional for the eighth time in nine years.
“It is definitely exciting to be able to go out there and play a team like Arizona,” said senior third baseman Kelly Kliewer. “You hear about them all the time and we’re looking forward to go out there and play them.”
Sixty-four teams qualified for the championship field. This year the NCAA changed its format to be more like the baseball championships. There are now 16 four team regionals held at campus sites, with the 16 regional winners advancing to play a best-of -three super regional against another region winner. The eight super regional winners will advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Tickets to the Tucson regional will be available to the general public Tuesday at 9 a.m. MST (noon EDT) and can be purchased by calling 1-800-452-CATS. All-session ticket prices are as follows: Reserved public - $25, Adult General Admission - $18, Senior/Youth General Admission - $14. Single-session ticket prices are as follows: Reserved - $10, Adult General Admission - $8, Senior/Youth General Admission - $5.Lehigh will open play on Friday against host Arizona at Hillenbrand Stadium at approximately 6:30 MST (9:30 EDT). The Lehigh-Arizona game will follow the Princeton-Oklahoma State game at 4:00 MST. The two winners will meet at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with the two losers to play at 4 p.m. The loser of Game 3 will play the winner of Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Game times Sunday are 12 noon, and if necessary, 2:30 p.m. Friday’s game times are subject to NCAA approval on Monday. All of Lehigh’s NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast live on the Lehigh website at lehighsports.com with streaming provided by Yahoo! Sports.
