May 11, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State Bulldogs earned the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Softball Tournament as announced by the selection committee on ESPNU Sunday night. Fresno State will host Sacramento State, California and San Diego State in the NCAA Fresno Regional, Friday May 16 through Sunday, May 18.

The Bulldogs will host an NCAA Regional for the 21st time in school history and play in an NCAA record 27 NCAA Tournaments.

"I'm very excited to be hosting," said head coach Margie Wright. "I think it's awesome and great for our student-athletes because it is finals week and we get to be at home. This is a tough region and we are going to do what we can to try to win it."

Game 1 will feature California vs. San Diego State on Friday at 5:00 p.m. followed by game 2, Fresno State vs. Sacramento State at 7:30 p.m. Game 3 on Saturday will feature the winners of game 1 vs. game 2 at noon. Game 4 is the loser of game 1 vs. the loser of game 2 at 2:30 p.m.

The final game of Saturday, game 5 of the Regional will see the loser of game 3 take on the winner of game 4.

The Regional Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. will be the winner of game 3 vs. the winner of game 5. Since the tournament is double elimination, a game 7 if necessary will be played at approximately 3:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the Super Regional and playing the winner of the Florida Regional.

Sacramento State will make its second appearance at Bulldog Diamond this season as they were in Fresno in March for the Bingham Toyota Classic. Fresno State defeated the Hornets 4-2. The Bulldogs hold an overall 26-9 advantage over Sacramento State. The Hornets are making the schools first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 1995 season. They earned the automatic berth by winning the Pacific Coast Softball Conference. They have a 32-19 overall record and finished at 14-6 in conference play.

San Diego State is 43-15 on the year and earned the automatic berth from the Mountain West Conference by winning its fourth title in the last seven years. The Aztecs finished at 15-5 in conference play. In the last NFCA poll, the Aztecs were ranked No. 19 and reached as high as No. 17 on the year. They defeated the Bulldogs in the second week of the season, 3-2, at the San Diego State Classic on February 16. Fresno State holds an overall 50-7 advantage over SDSU.

California earned one of 34 at-large bids after going 40-24 on the year and 7-14 in a tough Pac-10 Conference. They went 1-2 in the 2007 NCAA Regional. The Bulldogs are 61-40 all-time vs. the Bears, defeating them 2-1 last season.

The Western Athletic Conference earned fourth berths to the NCAA Tournament, a record for the conference. Nevada will be playing in the UCLA Regional, Louisiana Tech in the Texas A&M Regional and Hawai'I in the Arizona State Regional.

Regional Ticket Information
Prices All-Session Single Day

Lower Box $60 $25

Upper Reserved $50 $20

Gen Adm - Adult $30 $15

Gen Adm - Senior/Youth/Student $20 $12

Everyone 2 years of age or older will need a ticket in order to enter the facility.

All-Session Tickets go on sale to the general public - Tuesday, May 13 after 12:00pm

Single Day Tickets go on sale - Friday, May 16, beginning at 9:00am

"Join the State- Fresno State!" - For tickets log on to www.gobulldogs.com or call (559) 278-DOGS.