BYU and UNLV To Represent MWC In 2005 NCAA Softball Championship

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May 15, 2005

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU and UNLV will represent the Mountain West Conference in the 2005 NCAA Softball Championship. This marks the third time in league history that two teams from the MWC were selected. The Cougars earned the automatic bid to the championship with their 2-0 win over the Rebels in last week's Mountain West Conference Softball Championship in San Diego. UNLV received its first at-large bid as members of the Mountain West Conference after finishing the regular season with a 43-17 record.

The Division I championship consists of 64 teams. The championship will be extended to three weekends of competition for the first time this year. Four teams will participate at each of 16 regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend.

The Cougars (44-12) were placed in Region No. 2 at Bulldog Diamond on the campus of Fresno State in Fresno, Calif., and will start off with second-seeded and No. 2 ranked California (46-11) on Thursday, May 19. The other opening day game in Fresno will be site host and 15th-ranked Fresno State (41-10) vs. No. 24 Long Beach State (39-14).

UNLV will compete in Region No. 7 at Easton Stadium on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, Calif. The Rebels will open with Cal State Fullerton (28-19) on May 20. The other game on the first day in Los Angeles pits host and 12th-ranked UCLA (30-16) vs. Loyola Marymount (34-18). Game times for all games will be determined at a later date.

Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during regional competition, when possible.

The regional winners will advance to the super regional competition for a best-of-three series May 27-28 (Memorial Day Weekend) at eight campus sites.

The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), an eight-team, double elimination tournament. The championship final will be a best-of-three-series for the first time this year. The WCWS will be conducted June 2-8 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.