NCAA Release |
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Indianapolis, Ind. -- The Fordham softball team (45-14, 18-5 A-10) will play in the NCAA Regional hosted by #11 Utah later this week, it was announced Sunday night on the ESPN2 NCAA Softball Selection Show, after clinching its sixth-ever and fifth straight Atlantic 10 Championship earlier in the afternoon. Joining the Rams and Utes are Mississippi State and BYU.
The Rams are the fourth seed in the regional and will therefore play Utah in the first round and second overall, currently scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 18, and will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Regionals are double elimination format. Last year, Fordham traveled to Eugene but fell to the fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks and Long Beach State. Thursday's contests in will kick the weekend off.
Fordham has played Utah and BYU each once, falling in 2007 to the Utes on neutral ground, 3-0, but defeating the Cougars, 5-2, at the 2014 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. The Rams have met the Bulldogs twice, falling both times, once in 2008 at Mississippi State when they were nationally ranked, and again in 2013 in neutral territory.
The winner of Thursday night's match-up will play the winner of the Mississippi State/BYU contest on Friday, while Thursday's two losers will face off in an elimination game. The winner of the latter contest will face the loser of the former in another elimination game and the final two teams will battle for a spot in the NCAA Super Regional round on Saturday, with a second game available if needed. Exact start times are still to be determined.
Fordham is still looking to make its first NCAA Super Regional appearance. The Rams came closest in 2010 and 2015, falling in the regional final. In the prior seven years, Fordham has competed in the College Park Regional (2010), Penn State Regional (2011), the Norman Regional (2013), the Tallahassee Regional (2014), the Harrisonburg Regional (2015), and last year's trip to Eugene.
Stay tuned to FordhamSports.com and @FordhamSoftball for more updates as they come in.
