DENTON, TEXAS – The road to 2013 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship begins this Friday, May 10, with 64 teams participating in one of 16 four-team regional tournaments being held across the country.  The University of the Incarnate Word is making their second appearance in a row and third all-time in NCAA Division II regional competition.
         
The Cardinals (30-24) open the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the South Central Region and will play host Texas Woman's in the first round on Friday at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field on the campus of TWU.  The two other teams in the South Central 1 Regional are fourth-seeded St. Mary's and fifth-seeded Midwestern State.

Tournament play in the Denton Regional gets underway on Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. with St. Mary's squaring off against Midwestern State in Game 1. At 7 p.m., TWU will take the field against Incarnate Word for Game 2.

Regional play continues on Saturday, May 11, at 2 p.m. with Game 3 featuring the winner of Game 2 challenging the winner of Game 1. Game 4 at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon will pit the loser of Game 2 vs. the loser of Game 1. Game 5 at 7 p.m. on Saturday night will be an elimination game between the winner of Game 4 and the loser of Game 3.

A Regional champion will be crowned on Sunday, May 12. Game 6, scheduled for 2 p.m. will see the winner of Game 3 play the winner of Game 5. If the winner of Game 5 wins Game 6, Game 7 will be played at 4:30 p.m. to decide the Regional title.

Spectators have two ticket options for the Regional. All-Tournament Passes will be available for $20.00 for adults ages 18-54 and $10.00 for students ages 3-17 and senior citizens ages 55 and up. Single-Day tickets will cost $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students or senior citizens. Children 2 and under will be admitted free. The Pioneer Field ticket booth will open for business 90 minutes before the first game of each day.

No animals (leashed or otherwise), coolers, bottles, tobacco products, or alcohol will be allowed at Pioneer Field for this event. TWU Athletics and the NCAA reserves the right to inspect purses, bags, and other carry-in items held by any spectators prior to their entry into the facility. To avoid traffic delays with the TWU Commencement ceremonies, fans are encouraged to use the driving directions detailed here.

Official 2013 NCAA DII Softball Championship merchandise will be available for purchase in the promotional area behind the Pioneer Field ticket booth. The official NCAA DII Softball Championship program can be viewed or downloaded via the NCAA DII website.

For fans that can't make it out to the games, all of the tournament action will be broadcast online via a free live webcast. The webcast will be video only with viewers needing just a computer with a high-speed DSL or cable modem connection to the internet. Links to view the webcasts, as well as links for live stats and boxscores can be found on the Denton Regional webpage.

For additional information regarding the Regional Championship please visit the tournament webpage or contact Jeff Bowerman at jbowerman@twu.edu or 817-874-0063. 
####
pr13342smm