LAFAYETTE (Press Release) – No. 7 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball received its assignment for the program’s 21st consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday when it was revealed during the Softball Selection Show that the squad was placed into the NCAA Oxford Regional at the Ole Miss Softball Complex in Oxford, Miss.
The Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament champions were awarded the league’s automatic bid into collegiate softball’s premier postseason event, which was secured with the win over Coastal Carolina in Saturday’s conference tournament championship game in San Marcos, Texas.
It’s the 29th appearance overall, all coming in the past 30 years, for the nationally recognized program. Since 1990, the Ragin’ Cajuns have missed the NCAA’s postseason event only once (1998).
Scheduled for Friday-Sunday, May 17-19, the NCAA Oxford Regional will feature No. 11 national seed Ole Miss (37-17), Louisiana (50-4), Southeast Missouri (45-16) and Chattanooga (37-15).
The winner of the regional will play the winner of the NCAA Tucson (Ariz.) Regional which features No. 6 national seed Arizona (42-12), Auburn (37-19), Colorado State (38-10) and Harvard (25-17) in the super regional round the following week for a trip to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Action in the NCAA Oxford Regional begins Friday, May 17 with Louisiana and Southeast Missouri at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN3 followed by Ole Miss and Chattanooga at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN3.
Gerry Glasco’s squad enters the NCAA Tournament winners of 27 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the nation and one game shy of the program record streak. The Ragin’ Cajuns boast the nation’s leader in wins in Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year Summer Ellyson and are armed with a lineup that features XXX batters hitting above .300 and ranks Top 10 nationally in several categories.
Ticket information will be released on the Louisiana Softball social media channels when it becomes available.
RAGIN’ CAJUNS SOFTBALL NCAA POSTSEASON FACTS
- Louisiana’s 29 NCAA Tournament appearances rank eighth (8th) in NCAA history (tied with Cal State Fullerton).
- Louisiana is just one of nine schools to play in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2000. The list includes: Alabama, Arizona, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington.
- The Ragin’ Cajuns are 64-36 all-time in the NCAA Regional round, including a 30-9 mark in claiming regional championships and advancing to the super regional round in seven of the last 11 appearances (2008-18).
- The program’s all-time overall record in the NCAA Tournament stands at 76-59, representing the 13th-most wins in NCAA history.
- Louisiana has advanced to Championship Sunday of a NCAA Regional in each of its last 11 appearances (2008-18).
- This will be Louisiana’s first trip to Oxford for an NCAA Regional. It will also be the program’s first-ever appearance in the State of Mississippi in the NCAA postseason.
