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It’s already been a record breaking year for Ole Miss softball, and the historic season continues as the Rebels are NCAA Tournament bound for the first time ever, which was announced Sunday night in the reveal of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship bracket.
The Rebels will head to the Norman Regional hosted by the No.3 national seed University of Oklahoma, joining Wichita State and Tulsa as the four teams who will compete for a shot at Super Regional play.
Ole Miss, the No. 2 seed, will square off first against Tulsa (35-19) at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on Friday, May 20, in the double elimination format. The Rebels’ first game will air on ESPN3, and all games in the regional will air on the ESPN family of networks and will be available on the WatchESPN app.
The winner of the Oklahoma regional will advance on to Super Regionals, May 26-29, to face the winner of the Louisiana-Lafayette regional, which includes the No. 14 overall seed Ragin’ Cajuns, Texas A&M, Texas and Boston.
All-session tickets for the 2016 NCAA Softball Norman Regional will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday morning on SoonerSports.com, and on the phone by calling 405-325-2424. Ticket prices are $40 for reserved seating, $25 for general admission and $20 for youth (2-18) and Senior Citizens (55+).
Game one between the Rebels and Hurricanes gets underway at 5:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Oklahoma and Wichita State at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The winners and losers of those two games will meet on Saturday, and the two surviving teams from the bracket will collide Sunday for a chance at Super Regional play.
The NCAA bid for the Rebels is only a continuation from the already historic season in which Ole Miss won a school record 39 games and tied the school record for SEC wins. Ole Miss finished with nine wins against top-50 RPI teams, including three in the final three weeks of the season.
The Rebels are one of 11 teams from the SEC to earn a spot in the Road to the Women’s College World Series. Eight of the national seeds (Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia) are represented by the league, four of which Ole Miss defeated in the regular season.
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
