The Big West Conference champion Long Beach State softball team will meet Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion Creighton to open the NCAA Regionals, ESPNU’s NCAA Tournament selection show announced Sunday night.
The No. 14-seeded 49ers (39-15) will meet the non-seeded Bluejays (43-15) in the Iowa City Regional, which will take place May 16-18. The site also features the host Iowa Hawkeyes (40-18) and Missouri Tigers (44-15). Just 16 national seeds are awarded, and all 16 sites feature a four-team, double-elimination tournament with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals for a best-of-three series, which will take place at eight campus sites May 23 and 24.
LBSU is led in the pitcher’s circle by freshman starter Brooke Turner (26-4, 0.67 ERA), who broke the school’s single-game (16) and single-season (226) strikeout records, as well as the shutout record (17).
At the plate, the free-swinging 49ers will look to the trio of senior leadoff hitter Jessica Beaver, third basewoman Jennifer Griffin and catcher Brooke LeSage.
This season, Beaver became LBSU’s all-time career RBI leader and drove in a team-high 42 RBIs to go with a team-leading six home runs. Griffin led the team with a .333 batting average, hit three homers, knocked in 21 RBIs and provided stellar defense at the hot corner as a junior transfer from Tennessee. LeSage, in her senior season, provided a steady bat by posting a .306 average with three homers and 24 RBIs while guiding the pitching staff behind the plate.
