Florida Softball Heads NCAA Regional Championship
Sunday, May 10, 1998 | Softball
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The University of South Florida will serve as host for the NCAA Region 6 tournament, which will be held at the Bombers Park. Florida enters the Region as the No. 3 seed and opens play Friday against second-seeded South Florida. The University of Texas is the Region’s top seed and will face Arizona State also on Friday. The only team in the Region Six field that the Gators have faced this season is South Florida, and UF owns a 2-2 record against the Lady Bulls.
This is the first NCAA Regional competition for the Florida softball program, but for head coach Larry Ray, this is a familiar experience. Ray joined the Gator program in 1995 after spending 10 seasons as assistant coach for perennial softball power Arizona. The Wildcats reached the NCAA Championship game in each of the last five seasons of Ray’s tenure, claiming the title three times (1991, ‘93, ‘94).
Florida has played a tough schedule this season, which assisted them in their pursuit of a bid to the NCAA Regionals. The Gators have faced 11 teams that earned NCAA berths this season and UF owns a record of 7-12 versus these teams.
NCAA Softball Championships
Regional Pairings
Regoin 1*Tuscon, Ariz.
No. 2 Hawaii vs. No. 3 Pacific
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 4 Niagra
Region 2*Lincoln, Neb.
No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 3 Oregon
No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 4 Coastal Carolina
Region 3*Ann Arbor, Mich.
No. 2 DePaul vs. No. 3 Illinois-Chicago
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Ball State
Region 4*Seattle, Wash.
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Long Beach State
No. 1 Washington vs. No 4 Northwestern State
Region 5*Amherst, Mass.
No. 2 Massachusettes vs. No. 3 Boston College
No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Harvard
Region 6*Clearwater, Fla.
No. 2 South Florida vs. No. 3 Florida
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Arizona State
Region 7*Fresno, Calif.
No. 2 Cal State-Northridge vs. No. 3 California
No. 1 Fresno State vs. No. 4 Minnesota
Region 8*Stillwater, Okla.
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs No. 3 Florida State
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 4 SW Missouri State
