COLUMBUS -- Despite almost knocking off NCAA Regional host and No. 11 Ohio State, the BYU softball team’s season drew to a close with back-to-back losses at the Columbus Regional on Friday.

The Cougars ended the season with a 40-18 record after letting go of a 4-0 lead against Ohio State for a 5-4 eight-inning loss, and then falling 4-2 at the hands of Kentucky.

“It’s a disappointing way to end the season,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “Kentucky deserves credit, but we couldn’t rebound from the loss against Ohio State.”

The games marked the end of the BYU careers of both Stephanie Hopkins and Monica Gonzales. Hopkins got things going for the Cougars against Kentucky, driving in both of BYU’s runs when she launched hard-hit ball just inside the left field foul pole for her eighth home run of the year and the first BYU hit of the game.

Paige Affleck, who received the loss in both of Friday’s games, kept Kentucky scoreless through the first three innings, working her way out of a no-out, two-runners-on-base jam in the third before Brittany Cervantes drove the ball just past the left field fence for a solo homer. It was the second roundtripper Affleck allowed during the day’s competition.

A mishandled ground ball gave the following batter a single, and she reached second on the error putting a runner in scoring position with no outs. The following batter singled to right field, and the runner scored, tying the game 2-2.

Kentucky took the lead in the fifth inning after Affleck gave up two walks and a single to centerfield brought in the lead runner.

Freshman Tiffany Messerschmidt singled down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. After a sacrifice bunt left first base open, Kentucky intentionally walked BYU leading-slugger and Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Jessica Purcell.

The move proved to be effective, as both Ramirez and Coreen Lopez flied out to end the inning.

With one last chance to grab a few insurance runs, Wildcat Molly Johnson doubled on a fly ball to center field despite Angeline Quiocho’s diving effort. Johnson stole third base on the following pitch and scored on a line drive back to the pitcher.

With the Cougars’ final at-bat in the bottom half of the inning, the offense was unable to generate any firepower, closing the game at 4-2 and also concluding the 2009 season for BYU.

Earlier in the day BYU let go of a 4-0 lead against No. 11 Ohio State and fell 5-4 in eight innings against the Buckeyes.

The Cougars tallied six hits, but the Buckeyes responded with seven hits of their own. Relief pitcher Christie Zinanti received the loss, finishing the season 21-8 with a career-best 1.67 ERA.

The game began as a pitcher’s duel. Affleck, the starting pitcher, kept OSU scoreless for five innings before running into a jam in the sixth inning.

Purcell notched the first hit of the game with a bloop single to left field. The first Cougar baserunner stole second, and advanced to third on the throwing error that landed in centerfield. The quick Buckeye defense grabbed the ball and launched it toward third to stop Purcell from advancing, but the ball missed the fielder, granting Purcell home base to give BYU a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

Affleck gave up a leadoff walk in the fourth inning and Alicia Herron grabbed the first Ohio State hit with a ball to left-center field that gave the Buckeye’s two runners on with no outs. Affleck struck out the next three batters in consecutive order to retired the side and the scoring threat.

After the OSU leadoff batter doubled on a line drive off the glove of the diving Coreen Lopez’s glove, the Buckeyes had a runner in scoring position with no outs. On the following sacrifice bunt attempt, Lopez’ diving effort caught the popped up bunt. Second baseman Kristin Delahoussaye corralled the following pop fly to record the second out, and Affleck grabbed her seventh strikeout for the third out.

Andrea Ramirez singled up the middle to begin the bottom of the fifth and Lopez matched her defensive effort with an infield single. Freshman lefty Jessica Dugas followed with a pinch-hit single to load the bases for the first time during the game.

Monica Gonzales was called out on an infield fly that landed just inside of the dirt, yet the runners advanced to give BYU its second run of the game. Kristin Delahoussaye sliced a ball up the left side to bring in Lopez and Ramirez to put BYU up 4-0 after five complete innings.

The Buckeyes answered back with a long fly ball over the left field wall on the leadoff at-bat. They followed with back-to-back singles to out two runners in scoring position.

BYU conceded the runner on third on a dribbling ball down the third-base line to secure the force out at first base. The next runner grounded out back to relief pitcher Zinanti, who checked the runner before making the play at first.

OSU cut the Cougar lead down to one run on an infield single. Zinanti walked the following two batters to load the bases, but struck out the next batter to retire the side.

After Quiocho doubled down the left field line, the Buckeyes brought in Kim Reeder to pitch. She struck out Purcell before Ramirez lined out into a double play to end the inning.

The Buckeyes tied the score 4-4 on a two-out single by Rachel Shepherd, who was called out at second trying to stretch her single into a double. Before the final out was recorded, the run scored to tie the game. The Cougars were unable to get a runner on base, forcing extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, Zinanti put the first two runners on as they were both hit by pitches. With two on Delahoussaye flipped a ground ball to Hick to record an out at second base. Hicks’ throw to first was off course to Ramirez, allowing the leading runner to score, giving OSU its first lead of the game.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Buckeyes retired the side in consecutive order giving BYU its first post-season loss this season.

On the year BYU recorded its fifth consecutive 40-win season while also receiving its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.

Box Score
Kentucky vs Brigham Young Univ.
May 15, 2009 at Columbus, Ohio (New Buckeye Field)
Kentucky 4 (34-22)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Johnson ss...............  4  1  1  0   0  2  2  0   0
Smith 2b.................  3  0  1  1   1  0  5  0   0
Yocke c..................  2  1  0  0   2  1  6  0   2
Cervantes 3b.............  3  1  2  1   1  0  0  0   0
Aull cf..................  4  1  3  1   0  0  3  0   0
Demartine 1b.............  4  0  1  1   0  0  0  1   4
 Allen, M. pr............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Riley dp.................  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
Rowlands lf..............  3  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
Mordecai rf..............  2  0  0  0   1  1  2  0   1
Bell p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 27  4  9  4   5  4 21  2   8
Brigham Young Univ. 2 (40-18)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b..  3  0  0  0   0  0  4  1   0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dp..  3  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
QUIOCHO, Angeline cf.....  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   1
PURCELL, Jessica c.......  1  1  0  0   1  0  4  2   0
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  2  0  1  0   0  0 10  0   0
LOPEZ, Coreen 3b.........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   2
HOPKINS, Stephanie rf....  3  1  1  2   0  0  0  0   1
HICKS, Krista ss.........  2  0  0  0   0  2  1  5   0
 DAVIS, Caschjen ph......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
GONZALES, Monica lf......  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
AFFLECK, Paige p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 ZINANTI, Christie p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 23  2  4  2   1  5 21 11   4
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Kentucky............ 000 210 1 -  4  9  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 000 0 -  2  4  1
-----------------------------------------
E - HOPKINS(2). LOB - Kentucky 8; BYU 4. 2B - Johnson(14); Aull(12);
RAMIREZ(16). HR - Cervantes(10); HOPKINS(8). HBP - PURCELL. SH - Riley(4);
QUIOCHO(8); RAMIREZ(3). SB - Johnson(24). CS - Smith(2).
Kentucky               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Bell................  7.0  4  2  2  1  5 23 27   -
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige......  5.2  7  3  3  5  3 21 27   -
ZINANTI, Christie...  1.1  2  1  1  0  1  6  6   -
Win - Bell (19-8).  Loss - AFFLECK (19-10).  Save - None.
HBP - by Bell (PURCELL). Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires -
Start: 7:35 pm   Time: 1:50   Attendance:
Weather: Clear and 70 degrees
Game: GM5_NCAA
Play-by-Play
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                 Kentucky vs Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
               May 15, 2009 at Columbus, Ohio (New Buckeye Field)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Kentucky............ 000 210 1 -  4  9  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 000 0 -  2  4  1
-----------------------------------------
Kentucky starters: 18/ss Johnson; 0/2b Smith; 12/c Yocke; 14/3b Cervantes;
10/cf Aull; 22/1b Demartine; 11/dp Riley; 17/lf Rowlands; 13/rf Mordecai; 2/p
Bell;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/dp MESSERSCHMID; 33/cf
QUIOCHO; 10/c PURCELL; 31/1b RAMIREZ; 7/3b LOPEZ; 5/rf HOPKINS; 22/ss HICKS;
24/lf GONZALES; 12/p AFFLECK;
Kentucky 1st - Johnson grounded out to ss. Smith walked. Yocke struck
out looking. Smith out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE popped up to 2b. MESSERSCHMID
popped up to ss. QUIOCHO fouled out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Kentucky 2nd - Cervantes grounded out to ss. Aull doubled to center
field. Demartine grounded out to 2b; Aull advanced to third. Riley grounded out
to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PURCELL hit by pitch. RAMIREZ out at first 1b
to 2b, SAC; PURCELL advanced to second. LOPEZ struck out looking. HOPKINS
homered, 2 RBI; PURCELL scored. HICKS struck out swinging. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Kentucky 3rd - Rowlands singled to left field. Mordecai walked; Rowlands
advanced to second. Johnson struck out swinging. Smith grounded out to 1b
unassisted; Mordecai advanced to second; Rowlands advanced to third. Yocke
grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - GONZALES lined out to 2b. DELAHOUSSAYE popped
up to rf. MESSERSCHMID singled, bunt. QUIOCHO flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Kentucky 4th - Cervantes homered, RBI. Aull singled, advanced to second
on a fielding error by rf. Demartine singled to right field, RBI; Aull scored.
Allen, M. pinch ran for Demartine. Riley out at first 3b to 2b, SAC, bunt;
Allen, M. advanced to second. Rowlands grounded out to 3b; Allen, M. advanced
to third. Mordecai grounded out to ss. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - Demartine to 1b for Allen, M.. PURCELL fouled
out to lf. RAMIREZ doubled to left field. LOPEZ popped up to 2b. HOPKINS flied
out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Kentucky 5th - Johnson struck out swinging. Smith popped up to lf. Yocke
walked. Cervantes walked; Yocke advanced to second. Aull singled to center
field, RBI; Cervantes advanced to second; Yocke scored. ZINANTI to p for
AFFLECK. Demartine flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - HICKS struck out looking. GONZALES struck out
looking. DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Kentucky 6th - Riley grounded out to ss. Rowlands grounded out to 1b
unassisted. Mordecai struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - MESSERSCHMID singled to left field. QUIOCHO
out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; MESSERSCHMID advanced to second. PURCELL
intentionally walked. RAMIREZ lined out to rf. LOPEZ lined out to lf. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Kentucky 7th - Johnson doubled to left center. Johnson stole third.
Smith singled to pitcher, RBI; Johnson scored. AFFLECK to p for ZINANTI. Smith
out at second c to 2b, picked off. Yocke walked. Cervantes singled to left
field; Yocke advanced to second. Aull reached on a fielder's choice; Cervantes
out at second ss to 2b; Yocke advanced to third. Demartine popped up to 2b.
1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - HOPKINS flied out to cf. DAVIS pinch hit for
HICKS. DAVIS struck out looking. GONZALES popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
===========================================
Box Score
#11 Ohio State at Brigham Young Univ.
May 15, 2009 at Columbus, Ohio (New Buckeye Field)
Ohio State 5 (46-9)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Hillman cf...............  3  1  1  1   1  1  0  0   0
Spears lf................  2  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0
Marder c.................  3  0  0  0   2  2  7  1   0
Cooper 2b................  4  0  0  0   1  2  3  1   6
Herron ss................  5  1  2  1   0  1  1  3   1
Pruner rf................  2  1  1  0   2  1  0  0   0
 Ledford pr..............  0  1  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Haddad 1b................  4  0  1  0   0  2  9  0   0
 Medrano pr..............  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Schultz 3b...............  2  0  0  1   2  1  1  3   2
Shepherd dp..............  4  0  2  1   0  0  0  0   2
 Simonton pr.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Bodeker p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Reeder p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Totals................... 29  5  7  4   9 10 24 11  12
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (40-17)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b..  4  0  1  2   0  1  4  2   0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dp..  4  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   1
QUIOCHO, Angeline cf.....  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
PURCELL, Jessica c.......  3  1  1  0   0  1 11  2   0
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  3  1  1  0   0  1  4  0   0
LOPEZ, Coreen 3b.........  3  0  1  0   0  1  2  2   0
 NIX-THOMAS, Whitney pr..  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
HOPKINS, Stephanie rf....  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
HICKS, Krista ss.........  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 DUGAS, Jessica ph.......  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
GONZALES, Monica lf......  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
AFFLECK, Paige p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ZINANTI, Christie p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 29  4  6  2   0  8 24  8   1
Score by Innings                   R  H  E
------------------------------------------
Ohio State.......... 000 003 11 -  5  7  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 010 030 00 -  4  6  1
------------------------------------------
E - Marder(3); Herron(16); HICKS(9). DP - Ohio State 1. LOB - Ohio State 12;
BYU 1. 2B - Shepherd(3); QUIOCHO(8). HR - Herron(13). HBP - Hillman; Spears.
SH - Spears(4). SB - Pruner(6); Schultz(3); PURCELL(7).
Ohio State             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Bodeker.............  5.0  6  4  3  0  5 21 21   -
Reeder..............  3.0  0  0  0  0  3  8  8   -
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige......  5.0  5  3  3  5  8 19 25   -
ZINANTI, Christie...  3.0  2  2  2  4  2 10 16   -
Win - Reeder (25-5).  Loss - ZINANTI (21-8).  Save - None.
WP - Bodeker(3). HBP - by ZINANTI (Hillman); by ZINANTI (Spears).
Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires - HP: Rodney Roth  1B: Christie Cornwell  3B: Doug Zimmerman
Start: 2:30 pm   Time: 2:21   Attendance:
Game: GM3_NCAA
Play-by-Play
                            The Automated ScoreBook
              #11 Ohio State at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
               May 15, 2009 at Columbus, Ohio (New Buckeye Field)
Score by Innings                   R  H  E
------------------------------------------
Ohio State.......... 000 003 11 -  5  7  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 010 030 00 -  4  6  1
------------------------------------------
Ohio State starters: 2/cf Hillman; 18/lf Spears; 13/c Marder; 21/2b Cooper;
24/ss Herron; 20/rf Pruner; 44/1b Haddad; 9/3b Schultz; 6/dp Shepherd; 14/p
Bodeker;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/dp MESSERSCHMID; 33/cf
QUIOCHO; 10/c PURCELL; 31/1b RAMIREZ; 7/3b LOPEZ; 5/rf HOPKINS; 22/ss HICKS;
24/lf GONZALES; 12/p AFFLECK;
Ohio State 1st - No play. No play. Hillman walked. Spears out at first c
to 2b, SAC, bunt; Hillman advanced to second. Marder out at first c to 2b;
Hillman advanced to third. Cooper popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE struck out looking. MESSERSCHMID
struck out looking. QUIOCHO out at first p to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
Ohio State 2nd - Herron struck out swinging. Pruner walked. Haddad
struck out swinging. Schultz walked; Pruner advanced to second. Schultz stole
second; Pruner stole third. Shepherd fouled out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PURCELL singled to left center. PURCELL stole
second. PURCELL advanced to third on a throwing error by c, scored on a
throwing error by ss, unearned. RAMIREZ struck out looking. LOPEZ struck out
looking. HOPKINS grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 2 errors, 0 LOB.
Ohio State 3rd - Hillman struck out swinging. Spears flied out to lf.
Marder struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - HICKS grounded out to ss. GONZALES grounded
out to 3b, bunt. DELAHOUSSAYE popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Ohio State 4th - Cooper walked. Herron singled to left center; Cooper
advanced to second. Pruner struck out swinging. Haddad struck out swinging.
Schultz struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - MESSERSCHMID grounded out to 2b. QUIOCHO
grounded out to 3b. PURCELL grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Ohio State 5th - Shepherd doubled down the lf line. Simonton pinch ran
for Shepherd. Hillman popped up to 3b, bunt. Spears popped up to 2b. Marder
walked. Cooper struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - RAMIREZ singled to center field. LOPEZ singled
to third base; RAMIREZ advanced to second. NIX-THOMAS pinch ran for LOPEZ.
HOPKINS struck out looking. DUGAS pinch hit for HICKS. DUGAS singled to
shortstop; NIX-THOMAS advanced to second; RAMIREZ advanced to third. GONZALES
popped up to 2b; DUGAS advanced to second; NIX-THOMAS advanced to third;
RAMIREZ scored. DELAHOUSSAYE singled to left field, advanced to second on the
throw, 2 RBI; DUGAS scored; NIX-THOMAS scored. DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to third
on a wild pitch. MESSERSCHMID lined out to 2b. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Ohio State 6th - LOPEZ to 3b for NIX-THOMAS. HICKS to ss for DUGAS.
Herron homered to left field, RBI. Pruner singled through the left side. Haddad
singled, advanced to second on the throw; Pruner advanced to third. ZINANTI to
p for AFFLECK. Medrano pinch ran for Haddad. Schultz grounded out to 3b, RBI;
Medrano advanced to third; Pruner scored. Shepherd to dp for Simonton. Shepherd
grounded out to p. Hillman singled to shortstop, RBI; Medrano scored. Spears
walked; Hillman advanced to second. Marder walked; Spears advanced to second;
Hillman advanced to third. Cooper struck out swinging. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0
errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - Haddad to 1b for Medrano. QUIOCHO doubled down
the lf line. Reeder to p for Bodeker. PURCELL struck out swinging. RAMIREZ
lined into double play p to ss; QUIOCHO out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Ohio State 7th - Herron flied out to rf. Pruner walked. Haddad grounded
out to 2b; Pruner advanced to second. Schultz walked. Ledford pinch ran for
Pruner. Shepherd singled to left field, RBI; Schultz advanced to second, out at
second lf to 3b to 2b; Ledford scored. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - Ledford to rf. LOPEZ fouled out to rf. HOPKINS
struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. HICKS lined out to lf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Ohio State 8th - Hillman hit by pitch. Spears hit by pitch; Hillman
advanced to second. Marder struck out swinging. Cooper reached on a fielder's
choice to second base; Spears out at second 2b to ss; Hillman advanced to
third, scored on a throwing error by ss. Herron fouled out to 1b. 1 run, 0
hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - GONZALES grounded out to p, bunt. DELAHOUSSAYE
grounded out to ss. MESSERSCHMID struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- The BYU softball team (39-16) will make its fifth-consecutive NCAA Championship appearance at the Columbus Regional, as the 64-team field was announced Sunday night by the Division I Softball Committee.

The regional site is hosted by No. 11 Ohio State (44-9). Kentucky (32-21) and Canisius (27-22) will also join BYU in Columbus.

“We’re excited to go to Ohio and compete in that region,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We will be facing teams that we haven’t played a lot. Ohio State, Kentucky and Canisius will present challenges to us, but we feel good about our team’s ability to win.”

BYU will open Regional play when it faces Kentucky at 3 p.m MDT Thursday. It will be the first matchup between the two schools. Ohio State and Canisius will face off at 5:30 p.m. MDT.

The news was welcomed with great excitement by the Cougars, who gathered together to watch the selection show on ESPNU. Three Mountain West Conference teams will participate in the 64-team tournament. BYU received the automatic bid after clinching its fourth MWC title, while San Diego State and UNLV both received at-large bids.

The Cougars have faced 12 teams that made the tournament, carrying a 7-10 record against qualifying teams. Their most notable wins came at the hands of California, who was ranked No. 7 at the time, and a combined no-hit performance against Fresno State.

With their sixth Regional appearance since the program’s inception in 2000, BYU looks to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time. In both 2008 and 2007 the Cougars fell in the Regional Championship game.

Thirty conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 34 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. 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 SEC led all conferences with nine teams in the championship, while the Big 12 placed seven and the Big Ten and the Pacific-10 each placed six. California State University, Fresno, remains the only team to be selected to all 28 championships. Seven teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Bradley University, James Madison University, the University of Kentucky, North Dakota State University, Radford University, Sacred Heart University and the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Only nine schools have been crowned the NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982, and all are in this year’s bracket.