May 25, 2005

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Michigan and Northwestern have advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals after posting impressive victories last weekend. The Wolverines will take on Washington in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Friday-Saturday, May 27-28, while Northwestern and DePaul will jointly host their series at Illinois-Chicago's Flames Field in Chicago, Ill., on Friday and Saturday. The winners of each of these best-of-three matchups will earn their right to the Women's College World Series on June 2-8 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Michigan, posting its 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Championship and its first as the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, defeated Canisius, Seton Hall and North Carolina last weekend to earn the Wolverines' eighth regional title in school history. The Maize and Blue, which spent the last eight weeks of the regular season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country, currently boasts a 58-4 overall record. The Wolverines are also the Big Ten's all-time leader in Women's College World Series appearances with five.

Last weekend, Northwestern opened the South Bend Regional posting a 6-1 victory over Albany (N.Y.), before being sent to the loser's bracket by host Notre Dame with a 3-2 loss. The Wildcats would claw their way out of the consolation round after defeating Louisville and then capturing two wins over Notre Dame to earn their second NCAA Regional crown. NU, which has earned its third trip to the NCAA Tournament under under fourth-year head coach Kate Drohan and eighth overall appearance, is currently 42-16 on the season and only one victory away from tying the school record set in 1987.

Five Big Ten softball programs were tabbed to compete in the 2005 NCAA Championship with Michigan and Northwestern both advancing to Super Regionals. Iowa and Penn State nearly clinched their NCAA Regional as the Hawkeyes fell to Washington, 2-0, and the Nittany Lions suffered a 9-2 loss to host Texas A&M in the regional championship finals. Wisconsin was the fifth Conference program to qualify for the NCAA Championship, but fell to DePaul and Oregon State in the first round.

SUPER REGIONALS
FRIDAY, MAY 27
Ann Arbor, Mich. - Alumni Field
Washington at Michigan (CSTV) 7 p.m.

Chicago, Ill. - UIC Flames Field
DePaul vs. Northwestern 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 28
Ann Arbor, Mich. - Alumni Field
Washington at Michigan (CSTV) 2 p.m.
Washington at Michigan* (CSTV) 5 p.m.

Chicago, Ill. - UIC Flames Field
DePaul vs. Northwestern 5 p.m.
DePaul vs. Northwestern* 7 p.m.

* If necessary
All Times Local to Site.

Big Ten Softball

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