SEMO softball team headed to NCAA Regional

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – The Southeast Missouri State University softball team is headed to the NCAA Regional in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Ohio Valley Conference Champions (28-24) will face regional host and #12 Seed Arkansas (36-16) on Friday, May 17.

First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.

Arizona (34-16-1) and Villanova (31-22) complete the four teams going to Arkansas.

SEMO makes its third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. This is first since the 2019 campaign. The Redhawks also made the event in 1999.

Texas earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship.

Thirty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification as conference champions, while the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will host at campus sites beginning Friday.

Regionals will be held May 17-19. Each campus site is hosting a four-team, double-elimination tournament. The 16 winning teams advance to the super regionals.

Super regionals for the championship will be held May 23-26 on eight campus sites. Two teams play in a best-of-three tournament format as each site.

The winners from each super regional advance to the NCAA® Women’s College World Series® which is May 30-June 6/7 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

Dayton, Siena and Southeastern Louisiana are making their first appearance in the tournament.

Oklahoma won its third national championship in a row in 2023. It was its seventh overall by defeating Florida State, 5-0 and 3-1, in the best-of-three championship finals.

The Sooners became only the second school to win three in a row, joining UCLA (1988, 1989, 1990).

No school has ever won four consecutive Division I softball national championships.

ESPN will provide coverage from all 16 regional sites on one of the ESPN platforms. ESPN will televise every game of the super regionals for the 17th consecutive season, 2020 notwithstanding, since 2007. This year also marks the 23rd consecutive year that ESPN will televise every game of the Women’s College World Series.

For complete championship details visit NCAA.com.

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