Monday, May 5, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - Central Washington received an at-large berth and will join GNAC champion Western Oregon in the NCAA West Regional softball tournament.

Western Oregon (33-21), which defeated the Wildcats 20-9 Saturday to win the GNAC title and automatic berth in the regional, is the No. 8 seed and will open the tournament Thursday at Seaside, Calif., against No. 1 seed Cal State Monterey Bay (45-8).  The game time will be 2:30 p.m. Pacific.

Central Washington (28-17), meanwhile, drew the No. 7 seed and will travel to St. George, Utah, to play second seed Dixie State (43-8). That game will be played on Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m. Mountain time.

Joining Western Oregon and Cal State Monterey Bay at Seaside will be fourth-seed Cal Baptist (41-11) and fifth-seed Sonoma State (37-20).

Third-seed Humboldt State (44-13) and No. 6 seed UC San Diego (33-16) will join Dixie State and Central Washington at St. George.  Humboldt State won the CCAA title last weekend, while Dixie State and Cal Baptist tied for the PacWest title.

The winners of the two sub-regionals will play a best-of-three series, May 16-17 for the regional title.  The winner of that series will advance to the NCAA Division II Elite 8 May 22-26 at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia.

Western Oregon is making its second NCAA tournament appearance.  The Wolves also qualified in 2008 winning its first three games before losing twice to Humboldt State.

CWU is in the regional for the third time.  The Wildcats won three of five games in 2010 before losing to eventual national champion Hawaii Pacific 1-0 in their sub-regional championship game.

In 2011, the Wildcats posted a 1-2 record in their sub-regional.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL (May 8-11)

At Seaside, Calif. (May 8-10): Thursday - #4 Cal Baptist (41-11) vs. #5 Sonoma State (37-20), noon; #8 Western Oregon (33-21) vs. #1 CSU Monterey Bay (45-8), 2:30 p.m. Friday - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2 p.m.; Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 4:30 p.m.; Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 7 p.m.  Saturday - Championship game, noon (2nd game if necessary).  (Note: Game times are Pacific time)

At St. George, Utah (May 9-11): Friday- #3 Humboldt State (44-13) vs. #6 UC San Diego (33-16), 1 p.m.; #2 Dixie State (43-8) vs. #7 Central Washington (28-17), 3:30 p.m.  Saturday - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11 a.m.; Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:30 p.m.; Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 4 p.m.  Sunday - Championship game, Noon (2nd game if necessary). (Note: Game times are Mountain time).