2013 NCAA Softball Championship Regional Bracket

Ticket Information

INDIANAPOLIS ­— The NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced that University of South Alabama softball will be the 13-seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championships. USA will host the 2013 Mobile Regional at Jaguar Field on May 17-19.
 
South Alabama earned automatic qualification to the championships by winning the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament title for the second consecutive season and will host for the first time in the program’s six-year history.
 
Other participants in the three-day, double-elimination tournament include Florida State (41-16, ACC), Mississippi State (32-22, SEC) and Mississippi Valley State (24-26, SWAC). Each regional contest will be aired on ESPN3, one of seven NCAA Regionals being aired on one of ESPN's television platforms.
 
USA, ranked 18^th by ESPN and 19^th by the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association, will first take on MVSU in game two on Friday at 6 p.m., with MSU and FSU facing off at 3:30 p.m.
 
Friday's winners will square off in Saturday's first of three games, while Friday's two losers will face off in an elimination game later that night. The loser of Saturday's first game will take on the winner of the day's second game in an elimination game. The winner of Saturday's final game will take on the winner of the day's first game on Sunday with an if-necessary rematch scheduled for later on Sunday. A full schedule for all three days is below.
 
The winner of the Mobile Regional will face the winner of the Austin Regional, which includes No. 4 Texas, Houston, South Carolina and Army.
 
“For such a young program, it is a huge accomplishment for our players to host a regional,” said USA head coach Becky Clark. “That’s the cool thing about starting a program - there are a lot of firsts.”
 
USA ranked 15^th in NCAA RPI and posted a 5-3 record versus RPI top-25 this season with non-conference wins over No. 5 LSU and No. 21 Florida State.
 
In its first NCAA Championships appearance last year, the Jaguars twice defeated Georgia Tech at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional to advance to the final, but fell to host-Alabama twice, the Tide going on to win the national championship.
 
On what it took for her club to earn a spot in the championship field of 64 for the second year in a row, Clark said, “You have to have solid pitching, and you have to have a solid defense. You have to hit when you need to; you have to be able to get the timely hit. Other than that, you’ve got to have the mental toughness to grind it out.
 
“I think our kids have all of those,” she continued. “This is a very well-balanced, multi-faceted team. Having been to a regional last year and knowing what it looks like, that’s huge for us. Knowing our fans, I think they’re going to pack out the field for us. It will be huge to have them behind us.
 
“These you ladies love to play,” Clark concluded. “Given the opportunity to do that, I know they’re going to go hard. We’re going to get after people and see what happens.”
 
USA defeated Mississippi State (32-22), 3-2, to kick off the 2013 campaign and shut Florida State (41-16) out, 4-0, on April 10. Mississippi Valley State (24-26) won the SWAC title to earn an automatic bid into the championships.
 
Tickets for the Mobile Regional will go on sale Tuesday and may be purchased 1) in person at the Mitchell Center (10 a.m.-5 p.m.), 2) over the phone by calling the athletic ticket office at (251) 461-1872 or 3) in person at Jaguar Field the day of the game. Gates will open one hour prior to the first pitch of the first game each day. Tickets are priced at $20 for adults and $15 for students, children and senior citizens for a tournament pass or $7 for adults and $5 for students, children and senior citizens per day. All persons two years old and older must have a ticket to enter Jaguar Field during the tournament.
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).