TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Softball has been selected to the NCAA Durham Regional to begin its NCAA Tournament journey. The Durham Regional will be played from Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17 and No. 12 overall seed Duke will also host Marshall and Howard for the regional.
The Wildcats' postseason appearance marks Arizona's 38th selection all-time and is the 11th time in program history that Arizona will be on the road for a regional. Arizona swept the last two road regionals that the Wildcats have played in – the 2024 Fayetteville Regional and the 2022 Columbia Regional.
Two-seeded Arizona will take on three-seeded Marshall at 11:30 a.m. MST on ESPN+ on Friday afternoon. The one-seed Duke and four-seeded Howard will play at 9 a.m. MST on ACCN on Friday morning.
The winners of Friday's games will meet on Saturday in the third game of the Durham Regional while Friday's non-advancing teams will play in game 4. The loser of game 3 and the winner of game 4 will meet on Saturday for a spot in the regional final.
Sunday will be the regional final with the if-necessary seventh game to begin after the conclusion of the first game on Sunday.
The Wildcats are heading into the NCAA Tournament with a 35-16 (16-8 Big 12) record. Arizona has one of the most dominant offenses in the nation which is ranked 15th in batting average (.345), 18th in scoring (7.33), and 26th in RBI (343). In the Big 12, Arizona is second in batting average and scoring, and third in the conference in on base percentage (.422), RBI per game (6.73), and runs scored (374). Big 12 Player of the Year
Sydney Stewart leads the Wildcats and the Big 12 with 76 RBI, .39 home runs per game, a 1.000 slugging percentage, and .80 walks per game.
The Wildcats also boast one of the best defenses in the nation that leads the Big 12 and the nation with a program-record 42 double plays. Arizona's .973 fielding percentage ranks third in the conference.
Last week, the Wildcats placed nine players on the All-Big 12 teams led by Stewart who was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Batting Champion,
Regan Shockey who earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors, and
Tayler Biehl who was named the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Biehl,
Grace Jenkins, Shockey, and Stewart earned first-team all-conference honors while
Jalen Adams,
Tele Jennings, and
Sereniti Trice were named to the All-Big 12 second team. Shockey and Trice picked up all-defensive team honors while
Rylie Holder and
Kez Lucas were name to the all-freshmen team.
Arizona has advanced out of 33 of the 37 regionals since 1987 and owns an 107-14 record in the round overall. Arizona has advanced to the super regional round in 17 of the 19 seasons since they began in 2005.
