Bobcats excited for Los Angeles regional

Texas State didn’t expect the draw it received in the NCAA tournament. 

The Bobcats, who were in the College Station regional in 2017 and Tuscaloosa, Alabama regional in 2016, head west this year. Texas State (42-14, 18-5 Sun Belt) is in the Los Angeles regional hosted by No. 3 overall seed UCLA (50-4, 20-4 PAC-12). 

“It was definitely a shocker, for sure,” sophomore catcher Haleigh Davis said. “But it’s a new place, new faces and it’s one of those where we can come and kind of surprise everyone and they’re not really going to know about us just like we don’t know about them. It’s going to be fun. Instead of playing the same teams we always do, knowing about each other, knowing who to watch and what not to watch. If we go to Los Angeles no one is going to know and we’re not going to know, so it’s going to be fun.”

The regional’s No. 2 seed Bobcats join the Bruins in Los Angeles with No. 3 California State Fullerton (33-23 18-3 Big West), and No. 4 Sacramento State (31-18, 14-7 Big Sky).

Texas State begins its run in the NCAA tournament against Cal State Fullerton on Friday at 7:30 p.m. inside Easton Stadium on UCLA’s campus. The Bobcats are excited for the opportunity in front of them, and they welcome the challenge. 

“It’s a different change of scenery for us, and I think that it’s good for us,” senior pitcher Randi Rupp said. “We haven’t played any of the teams that are in our regional yet and so I think that’s something we can take some confidence with that. And just stay big and focus on one game at a time, and just play, and relax, and have fun.”

Head coach Ricci Woodard’s goal for Texas State as it prepares for the Los Angeles regional is simple. Woodard wants the Bobcats to be playing softball in June. She wants to see Texas State in the College World Series in Oklahoma City. Sure, it’s cliche, she’s admits it. But playing in this weekend’s regional is just one step toward their goal. 

 “We haven’t put an ending on this,” Woodard said. “Obviously, we’d like to be playing at the College World Series like the other 64 teams that are left this weekend. That’s the end result that we’d like to see happen.” 

Woodard doesn’t see traveling west as a challenge. In fact, she believes the Bobcats will benefit from their regional draw. 

“I think that almost gives us an advantage,” Woodard said, “because we’re going to play three California teams that probably all know each other pretty well, and we get to kind of be the odd man out, which is really kind of a good thing at this point of the season in my opinion.”

NCAA Los Angeles regional schedule

Friday, May 18

Game 1 – No. 3 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 2 Texas State – 7:30 p.m. CT

Game 2 – No. 4 Sacramento State vs No. 1 UCLA – 10 p.m. CT

Saturday, May 19

Game 3 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser

Game 5 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser

Sunday, May 20

Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Game 7* – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser 

* if necessary