Softball, Sports

Opposing coaches sound off on NCAA Regional field

The 49ers’ softball team will head to Westwood for the NCAA Regionals and they will be joined by three familiar foes.

Long Beach State (34-19) nabbed an at-large bid to its 19th NCAA Tournament after finishing third in the Big West Conference and will kick off the double-elimination tournament against No. 2 UCLA (41-9) Friday in the Los Angeles Regional. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Easton Stadium on the campus of UCLA.

Fresno State (36-18) and UNLV (31-19) will face off in the other regional game at 1 p.m., as announced on ESPNU with the rest of 64-team field Sunday night. The winner of LBSU-UCLA will play the winner of Fresno-UNLV, while the losers face off in an elimination game on Saturday.

The 49ers upset the Bruins, 2-1, earlier this season when right-hander Brooke Turner outlasted UCLA’s Donna Kerr at Mayfair Park in Lakewood. Turner flirted with a no-hitter — holding the Bruins hitless for 5 1/3 innings — and struck out eight batters.

“On that day, Brooke Turner got the better of the Bruins,” UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said Monday. “We look forward to the next meeting. We’re a new team … and need to execute with timely hitting.”

One key player who did not make an appearance in the contest for UCLA due to injury was pitcher/first baseman Megan Langenfeld. The 5-foot-6 junior hit .344 with six home runs and 26 RBIs at the plate while sporting a 14-1 record in 27 appearances (10 starts) with a miniscule 0.93 ERA in the circle this season.

Inouye-Perez said she has not made a decision on a starting pitcher. Kerr was 18-6 with 221 strikeouts in 159 1/3 innings and a 2.55 ERA this season.

UNLV qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large entry from the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels defeated LBSU, 4-2, earlier this season in San Jose and are led by former 49er head coach and LBSU Hall of Famer Pete Manarino.

“[The Los Angeles Regional] is one of the toughest regionals of the 16 across the country,” Manarino said. “Long Beach State is back there and Fresno State has always been strong, so it should make for an exciting regional.”

Rebel shortstop Jaci Hull is batting .340 on the season and leads UNLV in home runs (11) and RBIs (50). Hull is also fourth in the Mountain West Conference with a .660 slugging percentage.

Fresno State won the Western Athletic Conference’s automatic bid to qualify for the regional. The 49ers blanked the Bulldogs in an 8-0, run-rule victory in the Mayfair Tournament.

Bulldog ace Morgan Melloh is second in the nation in strikeouts, fanning 414 batters on the season. Melloh (28-14) leads the Western Athletic Conference in ERA (1.48), opposing batting average (.167) and innings pitched (297 2/3).

The NCAA Regional rounds will conclude Sunday, and the Los Angeles Regional winner will advance to the best-of-three Super Regionals on May 22 and 23 to face No. 15 DePaul, Bradley, Illinois or host Missouri of the Columbia Regional.

The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women’s College World Series (May 28-June 3) in Oklahoma City.

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