2009 NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket (PDF)
PORTLAND, Ore. ? With a crowd of fans, parents, players and coaches in attendance, the Portland State softball team learned that it will play next weekend in the Palo Alto, Calif. Regional in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
The Vikings gathered at Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown Portland to watch the selection show, and found out their fate just minutes into the broadcast. Portland State (29-24) will take on eighth-seeded Stanford (44-9) on Friday at 6:00 p.m.
Portland State and Stanford will be joined in the four-team regional by Cal-Poly (39-10) and Nevada (39-17). Those two teams also meet up on Friday, with their game starting at 3:00 p.m. All games will be played on Stanford's campus at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.
After the first round on Friday, there will be three games on Saturday, including two in the losers side of the bracket. The regional championship will be played on Sunday.
Opening round regional action of the NCAA Tournament will be played May 15-17 at 16 sites across the country. 16 teams earned seeds in the 64-team tourney, with Florida earning the No. 1 overall seed.
The Vikings thought that they may be headed north up to Seattle since Washington is ranked No. 3 in the country, but the Huskies were denied a home bid because they do not have lights at their stadium, which the NCAA requires.
"This will be a great experience for our team and we are excited to be heading to Palo Alto," said PSU first year Head Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. "Seattle was in our minds because we weren't sure if the NCAA did require teams to have lights. The girls have already played them (Washington) this season, so it will be good for us to go and play someone different and to face a team like Stanford."
For PSU, this is their second trip to the Division I tournament since jumping up from the DII ranks for the 1999 season. The Vikings earned the Pacific Coast Softball Conference's automatic bid last weekend by claiming their second conference title in four seasons. Portland State, which went 15-5 in conference play, also won the PCSC in 2006.
The Vikings lead the all-time series against Stanford, 7-6, but are just 1-6 against them since becoming a DI University. The lone win came in 2007 in Palo Alto, when the Viks blanked the 13th-ranked Cardinal, 3-0.
In the latest USA Today/NFCA poll released on May 5, Stanford was ranked No. 2, while the Cardinal were No. 4 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll released on May 4.
All of PSU's games in the tournament will be broadcast on GoViks.com, and live stats will also be available courtesy of Stanford.
