The Red and Black

Issue date: 5/27/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: CHARLES RYAN BARBER Georgia softball players celebrate after winning the Super Regional against Ohio State. [Click to enlarge]

The sixth-seeded Georgia softball team opens the 2009 Women's College World Series against third-seeded Washington Thursday at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

A total of 64 teams were selected to the 28th-Annual NCAA Division I Softball Championship with just eight advancing to the Women's College World Series, which will be held from May 28-June 3. The eight remaining teams are split into two four team brackets, and the winners of each bracket will meet in a best-of-three game series for the 2009 National Championship.

The WCWS begins on Thursday with all eight teams in action starting with Georgia (44-10) and Washington (46-11) at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Pam Ward and Michele Smith will call the action with Holly Rowe reporting from the field. Completing Georgia's side of the bracket, No. 10-national seed Arizona State and Missouri will face off at 3 p.m. In the other four-team bracket, fourth-seeded Alabama will play fifth-seeded Michigan at 7 p.m. while top-seeded Florida takes on No. 9-seed Arizona at 9 p.m.

Georgia is making its first-ever trip to the WCWS after winning the Chapel Hill Regional and the Athens Super Regional with a perfect 5-0 mark. Washington earned a spot in the WCWS for the ninth time by winning the Amherst Regional and the Atlanta Super Regional with a 5-1 record. The Bulldogs and Huskies will be looking for the upper hand in the season series between the schools after splitting a pair of meetings earlier this year in the Easton Challenge in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Each team picked up a victory by a 2-0 score with Washington winning the first meeting and Georgia taking the second. In the all-time series history between the schools, Washington leads 5-2. Four of the meetings have come during the NCAA Championships, and the Huskies lead those meetings three games to one.

The Bulldogs depart for Oklahoma City on Tuesday afternoon and will partake in "Party at the Park," an opening ceremony event, Tuesday evening from 7:30-10:30 p.m. "Party at the Park" invites fans to celebrate the WCWS by meeting the teams, enjoying live music and a fireworks finale. On Wednesday, the teams will make their final preparations with practice sessions at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex.

For a complete schedule of the 2009 Women's College World Series log onto the NCAA's WCWS website at:

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-softbl/loc/ncaa-w-softbl-wcws.html

- Georgia Sports Communications

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