THIS WEEK IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
The Mountain West Conference will send a record three teams to postseason play as BYU, San Diego State and Utah will represent the league in the 2006 NCAA Softball Championship. The Utes earned the automatic bid to the championship with their 5-4 win over the Aztecs in last week's Mountain West Conference Softball Championship in Las Vegas. BYU and San Diego State were at-large selections.
The Division I championship consists of 64 teams. Eight teams will participate at each of eight regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend.
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 26-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at eight campus sites.
The Super Regional winners will advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), for a double elimination tournament. The championship final will be a best-of-three-series. The WCWS will be conducted June 1-7 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE QUICK HITS
TOURNAMENT RECAP
Utah won the MWC Tournament Title crown with a 5-4 victory over San Diego State on Saturday, May 14 at Eller Media Stadium on the campus of UNLV. It marked the fourth time in seven years that the Utes claimed the title.
BYU
The Cougars went 1-2 in the Mountain West Tournament, defeating Colorado State and falling to Utah and San Diego State in the semifinals...BYU received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history...Last season the Cougars received an automatic bid to the tournament and posted an upset win vs. California.
COLORADO STATE
Colorado State went 0-2 in the MWC Tournament, falling to UNLV and BYU...The Rams are now 12-15 all-time in the MWC Championship...Colorado State finished the season with a 26-26 (.500) record.
NEW MEXICO
New Mexico went 0-2 in the MWC Tournament, falling to Utah and UNLV...The Lobos are now 12-18 in the MWC Championship...New Mexico finished the season with a 23-31 overall record (.434).
SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego State advanced to the finals of the MWC Tournament before falling 5-4 to Utah...It marked the sixth consecutive season that the Aztecs advanced to the championship game...SDSU is now 13-17 all-time in the tournament...San Diego State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years...The Aztecs currently have program-bests in overall winning percentage (.711) and conference winning percentage (.833)...SDSU won 13 games in a row earlier this season to tie a school record (2003) and has set school records for runs (230), home runs (26), RBI (210) and walks (158).
UNLV
The Rebels closed out their season with a loss to Utah in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament...UNLV went 2-2 in the tournament and are now 8-14 all-time...Pitcher Shannon Crisp was named the designated player of the all-tournament teams as she had three hits with one coming in the form of a three-run home run in UNLV's 4-0 win over New Mexico...UNLV finished the season with a 26-37 (.410) overall record.
UTAH
Utah won its fourth MWC Tournament title with a 5-4 victory over San Diego State...The Utes are now 25-9 all-time in the championship...Utah had four players named to the all-tournament team, including MVP Karina Cannon...The Utes received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will face Indiana in the Austin Regional...Utah's last appearance in the NCAA Championship was in 2004.
