May 11, 2008

2008 NCAA Tournament Bracket

FULLERTON, CA - The Cal State Fullerton softball team is in the postseason for the 26th time in the 29-year history of the program, earning its fourth-straight NCAA Regional berth and a date with No. 2 national seed UCLA on Friday (May 16) at Easton Stadium in Westwood, Calif.

All games at the regional will be televised nationally on ESPNU as No. 3 Purdue (34-21) and No. 2 Nevada (42-16) will be playing in the first game at approximately 2:30 p.m. with the No. 4 Titans and top-seeded Bruins (45-7) to follow 30 minutes later.

The winner of the Westwood bracket will meet the winner of the Chapel Hill regional hosted by North Carolina and featuring the No. 15 national seed Georgia, Campbell, and Brigham Young.

Fullerton is 2-1 against its regional opponents this season, handing UCLA a 1-0 defeat in eight innings on March 12 in Westwood and defeating Purdue, 5-0, on Feb. 29 in the opener of the 2008 Worth Invitational in Fullerton. The loss came against the Wolf Pack, which posted a come-from-behind win over the Titans, 5-4, on Feb. 9 in Fullerton.

The 2008 season will mark the fourth time Fullerton will travel to Westwood for postseason play, making appearances in 1988, 1993, and 2005 and posting a 2-6 record on UCLA's home field in those appearances. In the postseason, Fullerton is 7-11 all-time against UCLA while meetings with Purdue and Nevada will be postseason firsts.

Overall, the Titans have faced 16 teams in the 64-team field this season, posting an 8-11-1 overall mark against those squads. Fullerton is 56-46 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 40-34 in regional action.

Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Michelle Gromacki, the Titans are 15-15 in the postseason.

Cal State Fullerton enters the weekend with a 27-26-1 overall record finished fifth in the Big West Conference with an 11-10 record. The Titans are one year removed from their first NCAA Regional Championship in more than 10 years and the first-ever trip to the super regional round by a conference school in 2007. Prior to that, the Titans had last won a regional in 1995 en route to the Women's College World Series.

Fullerton is one of two Big West Conference schools which received NCAA berths, joining Long Beach State, which earned a No. 14 national seed and will travel to Iowa City for its four-team regional featuring host Iowa, Missouri, and Creighton.

NCAA REGIONAL TOURNAMENT AT UCLA
Friday, May 16
Game 1 - Nevada (2 seed) vs. Purdue (3 seed), 2:30 p.m.
Game 2 - UCLA (1 seed) vs. Cal State Fullerton (4 seed), 30 minutes after Game 2

Saturday, May 17
Game 3 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3:00 p.m.
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 30 minutes after Game 3
Game 5 - Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 30 minutes after Game 4

Sunday, May 18
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7 - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 30 minutes after Game 6