Sooners to Host NCAA Regional

May 10, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. - The 10th-ranked University of Oklahoma softball team received a No. 7 national seed in the 2009 NCAA Championship. The announcement was made to a national audience on ESPNU on Sunday evening. Oklahoma makes its 16th consecutive appearance in the event, including every season of the Patty Gasso era. The Sooners own a 21-11 record against teams in the field of 64.

"I am pleased that we are being rewarded for the tough schedule that we played and our record against the other NCAA Championship teams," said OU head coach Patty Gasso. "This team has worked hard for this opportunity and I know they are ready to make the most of it. It is important that we use home field advantage to reach our goals. That means we are counting on Sooner Nation to come out in full force."

Oklahoma's opening round opponent is the North Dakota State Bison. The other two teams are Tulsa and Arkansas. The regional (May 15-17) is double-elimination and runs through Sunday at the OU Softball Complex. The winner of the Norman Regional will match up with the winner of the Tempe Regional between No. 10 seed Arizona State, San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton and LSU in the Super Regionals (May 22-24).

For the third year Oklahoma was selected as one of the top 16 seeds in the country. The NCAA began the new format of seeding 16 different teams and placing them at a different regional four years ago.

Norman Regional Central | Championship Bracket | NCAA Softball Main

Oklahoma is slated to play North Dakota State in opening round action on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. CT. Arkansas will take on Tulsa in its opening game of the tournament at 5 p.m. CT.

The Division I championship provides for a field of 64 teams. The championship will be extended to three weekends of competition. Four teams will participate at each of 16 regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. Sixteen teams were seeded and placed at one of the regional sites.

The regional winners will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series May 22-24 at eight campus sites.

The remaining eight teams will advance to the WCWS, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The championship final will a best-of-three-series.

The WCWS will be conducted May 28-June 3 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Norman Regional Schedule

Below is the schedule for the Norman Regional (All times Central)

Friday, May 15
Game 1: #2 Arkansas vs. #3 Tulsa 5 p.m.
Game 2: #1 Oklahoma vs. #4 NDSU 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 16
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 1 p.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 3:30 p.m.
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 6 p.m.

Sunday, May 17
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 1 p.m.
Game 7: Same teams (if necessary) 3:30 p.m.

Norman Regional Ticket Information

The OU Athletics Ticket Office will begin selling all-session tickets for the NCAA Softball Norman Regional at 8 a.m., on Monday, May 11.

All-Session Ticket Prices
$40 - Reserved
$25 - Adult General Admission
$20 - Youth (ages 2-12). Children under 2 are admitted free of charge.

To purchase tickets, call (405) 325-2424 or toll-free (800) 456-GoOU. For more information, click here.

An all-session ticket consists of a ticket for each day. Single-session tickets will be sold based upon availability beginning Friday, May 15 at the OU Softball Complex approximately 90 minutes prior to the first game.

Season ticket holders who pre-ordered will be able to pick up their tickets at the OU Athletics Ticket Office beginning Thursday, May 14 at 8 a.m. Once the tournament begins, all tickets must be claimed at the OU Softball Complex. As an NCAA event, all OU students will be required to purchase a ticket for entry.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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