Lane Kizziah Special to the Detroit Free Press BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — No. 1 seed Michigan squeezed out a win, 3-2, against No. 3 seed Minnesota in the Big Ten softball tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon. The win gave Carol Hutchins and the Wolverines their first Big Ten tournament title since 2015, and 10th in her 35 seasons at Michigan. The Wolverines will find out who they'll face in the NCAA tournament on Sunday night, when the 64-team field is announced at 9 p.m. on ESPN2. With a slow start in Saturday's final — the game was scoreless after three innings — the Wolverines relied on their defensive prowess to hold down the Golden Gophers. Finally, in the fourth, Michigan’s offense had two doubles to put the Wolverines up, 1-0. Michigan added two more runs in the fifth for a 3-0 lead. But a rain delay in the sixth inning seemed to stop Michigan in its tracks. Minnesota cut into Michigan’s lead with two runs, bringing the score to 3-2. More:Michigan softball was taken over by its seniors. Why that saved their season In the bottom of the seventh, impressive outfield grabs saved the game for the Wolverines after a walk to lead off the inning. Freshman Alex Storako locked down the win for the Wolverines with two innings of scoreless relief. Sophomore Meghan Beaubien picked up her 28th win of the season — and second of the day — with five innings of work in which she allowed two runs on eight hits and no walks. The 2015 season saw Michigan advance to the elimination round of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, where they lost to Florida in three games. Michigan returned to the World Series in 2016, but failed to win a game, finishing in a tie for fifth in Oklahoma City. Hutchins and the Wolverines won the national championship in 2005. Friday:Michigan softball hits walk-off HR for first Big Ten tournament win since 2016<doc-sep>Florida State Softball learned their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday evening. The Seminoles (51-8), who earned an automatic bid by winning the ACC Tournament Championship on Saturday, are the No. 4 national seed. FSU will open against Bethune-Cookman (26-29), who earned the the MEAC’s automatic bid. The other two teams in the Tallahassee Regional are South Carolina (36-17) and South Florida (40-17). The Bulls earned the AAC’s automatic bid. The Gamecocks and Bulls open up Tallahassee Regional play at noon on Friday. Their game will be shown on the SEC Network. The Seminoles and Wildcats will play at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU. The top eight national seeds are, in order, Oklahoma, UCLA, Washington, Florida State, Florida, Arizona, Minnesota and Alabama. Those eight teams would host Super Regionals if they advance. The Tallahassee Regional is paired with the Stillwater Regional. Oklahoma State is the No. 13 national seed. The Cowgirls (39-14) will host Tulsa (35-18), Arkansas (38-18) and BYU (29-24). The full interactive bracket can be found here. Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 17 - 19, 2019 on 16 campus sites. At each campus site, a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted and the 16 winning teams advanced to the Super Regionals. Super Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 23 - 26, 2019 on eight campus sites. At each site, two teams play in a best-of-three tournament format. The winners from each site advance to the NCAA Women’s College World Series. The 2019 NCAA Women’s College World Series will be held at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, May 30 - June 5, 2019. The eight teams will compete in a double elimination bracket with the final two teams then competing in a best of three format. Game 1 : 12 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN : 12 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN Game 2 : 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN : 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN Game 3 : 7 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN2 : 7 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN2 Game 4 : 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN2 : 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30 on ESPN2 Game 5 (elimination game) : 7 p.m. Friday, May 31 on ESPN : 7 p.m. Friday, May 31 on ESPN Game 6 (elimination game) : 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 31 on ESPN : 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 31 on ESPN Game 7 (elimination game) : 12 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on ESPN : 12 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on ESPN Game 8 (elimination game) : 2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on TBA : 2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on TBA Game 9 : 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on TBA : 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on TBA Game 10 : 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on TBA : 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1 on TBA Game 11 : 1 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN : 1 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN Game 12 : 3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN : 3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN Game 13 (if necessary) : 7 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN2 : 7 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN2 Game 14 (if necessary) : 9:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN2 : 9:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2 on ESPN2 Championship Series Game 1 : 7 or 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 3 on ESPN : 7 or 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 3 on ESPN Championship Series Game 2 : 8 or 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 4 on ESPN : 8 or 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 4 on ESPN Championship Series Game 3 (if necessary): 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 5 on ESPN This is the 38th annual NCAA Division I Softball Championship and the 29th time that Oklahoma City and USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field will host this premier college softball championship event.<doc-sep>Tonight at 6 pm PT, the UCLA softball team will find out their seeding for this year’s NCAA Softball Tournament and the Women’s College World Series. 2019 NCAA Softball Selection Show Time: 6:00 pm PT, Sunday, May 12, 2019 TV: ESPN2 Live Stream: WatchESPN Interactive Bracket While UCLA finished the regular season tied with Washington for first place in the Pac-12 standings, the Bruins earned the conference’s automatic bid by virtue of their head-to-head record against the Huskies. As in years past, the tournament field will consist of 64 teams with 32 conference champions receiving an automatic bid and 32 earning at-large bids. Sixteen teams will be seeded and, typically, the seeded teams host the Regional competitions the first weekend of the tournament. This year, the Regionals will take place from May 17 to May 19 while the Super Regionals will take place from May 23 to May 26 at eight campus sites Even if the Bruins slip in the seedings due to this weekend’s two losses to Arizona, it would be a surprise if UCLA is not seeded in the top 5 or if UCLA is not in line to host both a Regional and Super Regional, assuming the team gets that far. This year’s selection show will air at 6 pm PT on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.com. Go Bruins! Bring home 118!! !<doc-sep>
Florida State (51-8) has earned the fourth national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles will begin their quest for a second straight national title on Friday at 2:30pm (ESPNU) in Tallahassee against the MEAC champion Bethune Cookman Wildcats (26-29). As usual, an SEC team was sent to the Tallahassee Regional. This year’s SEC representative is South Carolina (36-17). The Gamecocks will open the tournament on Friday at noon against South Florida (40-17) (SEC Network). Because the Noles have earned a top eight national seed, they will host a Super Regional if they can advance. If the seeds hold, the Seminoles will welcome the 13th seeded Oklahoma State Cowgirls (39-14) to Tallahassee for the Super Regional. The top eight seeds are: Oklahoma UCLA Washington Florida State Florida Arizona Minnesota Alabama Update Here is the full schedule for the Tallahassee Regional. Tallahassee Regional – May 17-19 at Tallahassee, Florida Game 1: South Carolina (36-17) vs. South Fla. (40-17) | 12 p.m. Friday | SEC Network Game 2: Bethune-Cookman (26-29) vs. No. 4 seed Florida St.* (51-8) | 2:30 p.m. | ESPNU Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner | 12 p.m. Saturday Game 4 : Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | 2:30 p.m. Saturday Game 5 : Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner | 5 p.m. Saturday Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner | 12 p.m. Sunday Game 7 (if necessary): Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser | 2:30 p.m. Sunday Stay tuned to Tomahawk Nation for more coverage of the 2019 NCAA Tournament as the Florida State Seminoles continue their pursuit of a second straight NCAA championship.