May 16, 2004
Columbia, Mo. - The Missouri softball team will travel to Los Angeles for their ninth NCAA Regional Championship appearance beginning Thursday, May 20, against Louisville at 4 p.m. (CT). Selected as the No. 5 seed, Missouri (29-24) will play No. 4 seeded Louisville (40-17) in game three of the double elimination series. A total of 64 teams were selected to compete at one of eight regional sites scattered across the nation.
Coming off of a second place showing at the Big 12 Softball Championships, the Tigers will leave for Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 18. Other teams selected to compete include No. 1 seed and host school UCLA, No. 2 seed Alabama, No. 3 seed Long Beach State, No. 6 seed Cornell, No. 7 seed Central Michigan and No. 8 seed Mississippi Valley. Of the seven teams competing in Los Angeles, Missouri has played all but Cornell and Mississippi Valley at some point during the programs' 30-year history.
"We're very excited to be going to the Regional Championships," Head Coach Ty Singleton said. "What we need to do now is focus on the challenge in front of us and work on taking a great approach to the first game against Louisville. Everyone is exhausted from the long tournament weekend in Oklahoma City, so the next 48 hours will be spent resting and getting ready both physically and mentally."
In the all-time series record, Missouri is down 0-3 to Louisville. The two schools first met in Missouri's season opener Feb. 11, 2000, at the Metrodome Invitational. Louisville walked away with the 8-2 win. More recently, the Tigers and Cardinals played two games at the Missouri Classic in 2002 with Louisville winning both 3-2.
Twenty-seven conferences received automatic qualification into the NCAA Regional Championships. The Big 12 automatic qualifier was Nebraska. Five schools from the Big 12 Conference will attempt to advance to the Women's College World Series; Baylor, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. The winner of each region will advance to the 2004 NCAA Division I Women's College World Series, May 27-31, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Last season, Missouri advanced to their ninth NCAA Regional Championship. Playing at Michigan, the Tigers were 0-2, suffering losses to Notre Dame and Wright State.