May 11, 2008

Berkeley - The California softball team captured its 23rd straight postseason berth after the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced the 64-team field on Sunday evening. Cal will begin postseason play in the Fresno Regional May 16-18. The Golden Bears (40-24) will square off against San Diego State (43-15), while host Fresno State (51-11) will take on Sacramento State (32-19).

"We're very pleased with the selection," said head coach Diane Ninemire. "We are very familiar with Fresno and are excited to begin postseason play there."

Cal will face San Diego State on Friday, May 16 at 5:00 p.m. at Bulldog Diamond. The Bears are listed as the third-seed and will be the designated visitors vs. the Aztecs. Fresno State is the No. 1 seed (No. 16 national seed) and will host Sacramento State in the second game at 7:30 p.m.

Game three will be on Saturday, and will feature the winners of games one and two at noon. Game four pits the losers of games one and two at 2:30 p.m. The final game of Saturday - game five - will be the loser of game three taking on the winner of game four.

The regional championship on Sunday is slated for 1 p.m., and will be the winner of game three vs. the winner of game five. Since the tournament is double elimination, a game seven (if necessary) will be played at approximately 3:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the Super Regional.

The Bears are certainly no strangers to playing NCAA Regionals in Fresno. Cal has played 11 times there, including its most recent trip in 2005. After losing to BYU in the opening game in 2005, the Bears reeled off four straight wins, including two over Fresno State to advance to the Super Regional. Cal is 72-50 all-time in NCAA Regional games.

This will be Fresno State's 21st time hosting an NCAA Regional.

Cal played San Diego State in the second game of the regular season and fell by a score of 7-0 to the Aztecs in the Cathedral City Classic. The Bears faced Sacramento State three times this year and won two of the meetings. Cal played Fresno State last season and fell to the Bulldogs, 2-1, in Las Vegas.

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 by a score of 4-2). The Hornets are making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 1995 season after claiming the automatic berth after winning the Pacific Coast Softball Conference.

San Diego State earned the automatic berth from the Mountain West Conference by winning its fourth title in the last seven years. 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.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Fresno State website (www.gobulldogs.com) or by calling 559- 278-DOGS. All Session tickets range from $20-60 depending on seat location, while single day tickets range from $12-25 based on seat location. Everyone two 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 on Tuesday, May 13 after 12:00 p.m., while single day tickets go on sale - Friday, May 16, beginning at 9:00am

The University of Florida was named the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. Thirty conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 34 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 SEC led all conferences with eight teams in the championship, while the Pacific-10 placed seven. Six conferences tied for third with four bids to the tournament. Fresno State remains the only team to be selected to all 27 championships. Four teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Delaware State, Purdue, Stephen F. Austin and Stony Brook.

Only eight schools have been crowned the NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982, and all are in this year's bracket.