Michigan Headed to Kentucky for NCAA Regional, Matched Against Irish
5/13/2018 10:31:00 PM | Softball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Michigan earned its 24th consecutive -- and 26th overall -- selection to the NCAA Softball Championship and will head to the Lexington (Kentucky) Regional to open play against Notre Dame at noon Friday (May 18) at John Cropp Stadium. ESPN2 will televise the game.
No. 16 seed Kentucky will serve as the host school and face Illinois-Chicago at 2:30 p.m. Friday on the other side of the regional bracket. The regional round is a four-team, double-elimination tournament played over three days.
The winner of the Lexington Regional will move on to a super regional against the winner of the regional being hosted by Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. That regional consists of No. 1 overall seed Oregon, BYU, Drake and Albany. The super regional is a best-of-three format with the winner advancing to the eight-team Women's College World Series, scheduled for May 31-June 6 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Michigan (43-11), the 2018 Big Ten Conference champion, is making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance (1992-93, '95-2018) and has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament every season since 1995. It just the sixth time in program history that U-M will play a regional round on the road and the second time in as many seasons.
The Wolverines are 81-15 all-time in the NCAA Regional round and have won 18 regional titles. Last season, U-M fell to No. 6-seeded Washington in the Seattle Regional.
Lexington Regional Schedule
Friday, May 18
Game 1 -- #2 seed Michigan (43-11) vs. #3 seed Notre Dame (32-21), Noon (ESPN2)
Game 2 -- #1 seed Kentucky (31-19) vs. #4 seed Illinois-Chicago (33-19), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, May 19
Game 3 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Noon
Game 4 -- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5 -- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 20
Game 6 -- Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Noon
Game 7 (if necessary) -- Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 2:30 p.m.
