Softball Pairings Favor East

Imagine the furor in men’s basketball if the top-ranked team in the nation was sent to a regional across the country for its first-round game while a third- or fourth-seeded team got to host its first couple of playoff games.

UCLA Coach Sue Enquist knows that probably won’t happen in her sport even though the No. 1-ranked Bruin softball team was sent to Columbia, S.C., for its regional contests.

Publicly, Enquist has been diplomatic. “Once you get past the emotion of it, the bottom line is we’re UCLA softball--send us anywhere in the country and we’ll roll up our sleeves and have at it,” she said.

But privately, the Bruins--and others--were furious after pairings for the 48-team NCAA tournament were announced Sunday. Fresno is the only one of the eight six-team regionals being played in the Pacific time zone. None of the eight top-seeded teams will play host to a regional. Only Louisiana State is close to one, at Lafayette, La.

Cal State Fullerton (50-11) is having its best season in years and is a top-seeded team. But the Titans, who put in a bid to host, were sent to Fresno in a loaded bracket that includes Stanford (43-18), California (48-19), Fresno State (49-18) and Pacific (42-15). All are ranked in the nation’s top 20.

“I was speechless,” Fullerton Coach Michelle Gromacki said. “It seems to me that the West Coast is getting attacked every year. We seem to be moving in a direction where you’re not going to have the best teams make the World Series.”

Kathy Orban, chairperson of the Division I softball committee, said the NCAA wanted to keep as many teams from flying as possible--even if it meant putting conference members together in a regional.

“Our [mandate] was to put as few teams in the air as possible while trying to balance a bracket, while also keeping our top-seeded teams with a realistic opportunity to advance out of their respective regionals,” Orban said. “We were told that this is the policy and make the selections to the best of your ability and that’s what we did.”

Gromacki suspects the selections were based on saving money. The NCAA pays the travel costs for all 48 teams.

“I understand Sept. 11, but last year they talked about the money issue,” she said. “This year, they have a new excuse and a good one to hide behind. What will be the excuse next year?”

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The USC and UCLA women’s tennis teams, which split two matches this year, will be meeting in the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 13 years when they play Thursday in a third-round match at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Center.

Each team’s victory came on the road, UCLA winning, 5-2, on Feb. 1, and USC striking back, 4-3, on March 7.

“It’s too bad that we have to play each other this early but I think it’s going to be a great match,” UCLA Coach Stella Sampras said. The match could also decide the inaugural Lexus Gauntlet all-sports athletic competition between the schools. USC has a 55-52.5 point lead and a Trojan victory would clinch the title.

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Pepperdine and UCLA tied for the NCAA West Regional women’s golf team championship Sunday with 54-hole scores of 883 at Stanford Golf Course.

The Bruins made a big move Sunday with a tournament-low 288 among its four scoring players.

Sophomore Gina Umeck was the Bruins’ top individual performer, finishing eighth at 219.

Coach Carrie Leary said balance has been a key to the Bruins’ success. “At the beginning of the season, there were a lot of lineup changes,” she said. “All the girls were getting well-prepared for the key tournaments.”

Pepperdine’s Katherine Hull shot a one-under-par 215 for second place, tying with USC’s Mikaela Parmlid and five shots behind Arizona’s Lorena Ochoa. USC finished in eighth place and also advanced to the NCAA championships May 21-24 at Auburn, Wash.

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George Jenkins will resign as women’s crew coach at USC after nine years.... Biola advanced to the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics softball national tournament for the first time. The Eagles (43-14) will play Oklahoma Christian in the first round Friday at Decatur, Ala.

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This Week’s Events

Women’s Tennis

NCAA Championships at Stanford, Thursday, third round, No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 11 USC, 11 a.m. Teams split season series.

Track and Field

Big West Championships at UC Irvine, Wednesday, decathlon and heptathlon, noon; Thursday, decathlon and heptathlon, 11 a.m.; Friday, field events, 9 a.m.; running events, 1 p.m.; Saturday, field events, 9 a.m.; running events, 1 p.m.

Pacific 10 Championships at Pullman, Wash, Saturday, field events and running events, noon; Sunday, field events, 11 a.m.; running events, 1 p.m.

Baseball

UC Irvine at No. 16 Cal State Northridge, Friday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.

Men’s Golf

NCAA West Regionals at Albuquerque, New Mexico Championship Course, Thursday, first tee time, 7:30 a.m.; Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, tee time TBA.

Softball

NCAA Regionals at Columbia, S.C., first round, No. 1 UCLA vs. Liberty, Thursday, 8:30 a.m.; At Fresno, No. 9 Cal State Fullerton vs. Evansville, Thursday, noon.