From ucasports.com
Jessie Taylor
CONWAY – The NCAA released the bracket for the 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Championship on Sunday night, and the Central Arkansas Bears are set to face a familiar foe in their first game. The Bears will travel to Norman, Okla., to face off with 11th-seeded Oklahoma on Friday at 3 p.m. Also participating in the Norman Regional are Texas A&M and Lehigh.
UCA includes former Bryant star Jessie Taylor, a junior, at catcher. She’s batting .299 (46 of 154) with 13 doubles and team highs with 11 home runs and 55 runs batted in.
The Bears (35-19), who went a perfect 4-0 in the Southland Conference Softball Tournament to earn the SLC’s automatic bid, have faced the Sooners (45-7) once already this season, falling 12-6 on March 31st.
The Sooners earned the 11th national seed after winning their fourth-straight Big 12 title, while Lehigh (39-7) earned the Patriot League’s automatic bid and Texas A&M (38-18) earned an at-large bid after finishing eighth in the SEC.
“It’s a huge advantage playing an opponent that you already know,” said Central Arkansas third baseman Sam Forrest following the announcement. “We’ve played Oklahoma multiple times over the past couple of years, and the last time we were tied with them 6-6 and not a lot of teams score six runs on them, so we’re really excited to play them again.”
Senior pitcher Kylee Studioso echoed that sentiment, saying, “We already know what their strengths and weaknesses are. We saw a lot of their pitchers last time we played them, so that gives us an advantage, as far as what to look for.”
“We know how good Oklahoma is,” said Central Arkansas head coach David Kuhn. “We know that they have a storied tradition, we know that they have arguably the best freshman pitcher in the country in Paige Parker, and we know that they have the best player in the country in Lauren Chamberlain. It’s just a tremendous program and it’s such a great honor to be on the field with them.”
Kuhn also commented on the fact that the Central Arkansas roster includes six players who will be making a return to their home state, saying, “It’s awesome. It’s less than five hours away, we’ve got six girls from Oklahoma, we’ve got a huge alumni base in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, so we’ll have a huge fan following. Every time we play there we have huge crowds. I know the majority of our team is excited to go home, and I would be if I was them. Norman is close enough that our fan base can travel.”
