The University of Missouri softball team will take on Notre Dame in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Thursday morning in the opening round of the 2003 NCAA Softball Tournament, it was announced on Sunday night. The game will be played at 9 a.m. (10 a.m. EST) as an opening game in Region 7.
This is the first time the Tigers have reached postseason play since 1998-99 when they were a second seed. Under Big 12 Coach of the Year Ty Singleton, the Tigers went 31-18 and 12-5 in the Big 12, good for a third place finish in the league.
Notre Dame was 36-15 on the season and was the champion of the Big East Conference, giving the Irish an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
The winner of the Mizzou/Notre Dame matchup will face the winner between DePaul, the top seed in Region 7, and Wright State. The other first round matchups in the Ann Arbor regional are the host school, Michigan against Western Michigan and defending National Champion California takes on Oakland.