May 16, 2004
Stanford, Calif. - The seventh-ranked Stanford softball team received an at-large bid to the 2004 NCAA Championships and are one of 64 teams set to compete for a chance at a national title. The Cardinal received a No. 1 seed (seventh overall nationally) at the Stanford Regional to be held May 20-23 at the Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium on the Cardinal campus.
Joining Stanford are Auburn, Fresno State, Pacific, Southern Mississippi, Southern Illinois, Hofstra and Utah.
Play will open on Thursday, May 20 with Fresno State taking on Southern Illinois at 10 a.m., followed by Auburn versus Hofstra at 12:30 p.m. Pacific will face Southern Mississippi at 3 p.m. and Stanford will play Utah at 5:30 p.m. There will be an elimination game at 8 p.m. between the loser of game one and game two as well.
The Cardinal wrapped up the regular season with a 43-16 overall record, 13-8 in the Pac-10 (tied for second). The second place finish in conference play is the best in program history for Stanford.
Eight teams will participate at each of eight regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. Eight teams were seeded and each of the seeded teams was placed at one of the regional sites. The regional winners advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. (Note: The championship final is a single-game final.) Regionals will be conducted May 20-23. The WCWS will be conducted May 27-31 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
The NCAA Division I Softball Committee selected teams from the following eight regions to participate in the championship: Central, East, Northeast, South, Mideast, Midwest, West and Pacific. Twenty-seven conferences were granted automatic qualification for the 2004 championship.
The top eight teams were seeded in order. The remainder of the teams were placed in regional brackets to create balanced competition and avoid conference match ups when possible.
Region No. 7 - May 20-23 at Stanford, California
No. 1 seed Stanford (43-16)
No. 2 seed Auburn (42-15)
No. 3 seed Fresno State (47-18)
No. 4 seed Pacific (California) (34-21)
No. 5 seed Southern Mississippi (32-24)
No. 6 seed Southern Illinois (42-15)
No. 7 seed Hofstra (34-19)
No. 8 seed Utah (23-31)