The Missouri Tigers will host the NCAA Regionals, beginning on Friday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri softball team was named the No. 7 national seed and selected to host the Columbia Regional as part of the first stage of the NCAA National Tournament, which will begin nationwide this week.
Missouri, which finished fifth in the SEC regular season standings and were runners-up in the SEC championship tournament, will begin its hopeful journey to the Women’s College World Series by hosting a four-team, double-elimination tournament at the Mizzou Softball Stadium this weekend. Joining the Tigers in the Columbia Regional will be Washington, Indiana, and Omaha.
Mizzou will begin play with an opening round game against Omaha on Friday, May 17. The Tigers and Mavericks will play the second game of the day. Indiana and Washington will open the day with a game at 2 p.m. Missouri and Omaha will play 30 minutes after the first game concludes.
The winners of the opening round games will play on Saturday in a matchup where the winner will advance to the championship round. The two losing teams from the first day will also meet in an elimination game on Saturday.
The loser of that contest will be done for the season, while the winner will advance to another elimination game on Saturday that will send the winner to the championship round.
On Sunday, the team that won on Friday and Saturday will only need to win one game to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals, which will be played next weekend. The second team that advances to the championship round will need to win twice on Sunday to make the Super Regionals.
Missouri (43-15) will host an NCAA Regional for the third time in four seasons. Overall, Missouri will compete in its 17th-straight NCAA Tournament (27 total regional appearances) this season.
The Tigers will look to reach the Women’s College World Series for the seventh time in program history. Mizzou’s last appearance came in 2011 when the Tigers were No. 9 overall seed.
The winner of the Columbia Regional will play the winner of the Durham Regional, which is being hosted by No. 10 seed Duke.
COLUMBIA REGIONAL SCHEDULE
- Friday, May 17 – Game 1: #3 Indiana (40-18) vs. #2 Washington (31-15) — 2 pm
- Friday, May 17 – Game 2: #4 Omaha (41-13) at #1 Missouri (43-15) — 4:30 pm
- Saturday, May 18 – Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 — 2 pm
- Saturday, May 18 – Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 — 4:30 pm
- Saturday, May 18 – Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 — 7 pm
- Sunday, May 19 – Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 — TBA
- Sunday, May 19 – Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 — TBA (if necessary)
MISSOURI TIGERS 2024 WOMEN’S SOFTBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Gametime | Event | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2024 (Friday) | 4:30 pm | NCAA Tournament Regionals | vs. Omaha | Mizzou Softball Stadium |  |
| May 18, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | NCAA Tournament Regionals | TBA | Mizzou Softball Stadium | |
| May 19, 2024 (Sunday) | TBA | NCAA Tournament Regionals | TBA | Mizzou Softball Stadium | |