UA to host first softball regional

FAYETTEVILLE — Following a record-setting regular season, Arkansas’ softball team was selected to host an NCAA regional tournament at Bogle Park, the first home regional in the program’s 22-year history.

The Razorbacks, the No. 13 overall national seed, will play DePaul at 4 p.m. Friday and the game will be televised on the SEC Network. Oklahoma State and Wichita State will play Friday night following the first game.

“It was pretty exciting just to hear the excitement from the team,” Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel said. “They’ve worked so hard for this, and just to see them have that moment was pretty huge for our program. I’m incredibly proud of them and that we get to stay at home and play some more softball in Bogle.”

Arkansas enters postseason play with a 39-15 record. The team’s 39 wins are tied for third-most in program history and are the most in a season since 2002.

The winner of the Fayetteville Regional will play the winner of the Norman (Okla.) Regional in the

super regional round. Oklahoma is the No. 4 overall seed in the tournament, joining Missouri, Tulsa and Boston. Super regionals will be played May 24-27.

Arkansas lost 1-0 at Wichita State on March 6 and had another game canceled. Arkansas beat Oklahoma State twice in fall exhibitions and is a team Deifel is familiar with. Deifel is also familiar with DePaul from her time on Louisville’s coaching staff.

The Southeastern Conference had all 13 teams selected to the tournament field for a second consecutive year, and nine SEC teams will host. Vanderbilt does not sponsor softball.

“It doesn’t surprise me just with all 13 bodies of work. We all earned it,” Deifel said. “It wasn’t a big shock to me.”

Arkansas high school softball state championship games were scheduled to begin Friday at Bogle Park, but the Arkansas Activities Association announced Sunday night those games would be moved to the University of Central Arkansas campus to avoid a scheduling conflict.

Deifel