Maine (28-21) will face No. 2 California (46-11) in the first round of the NCAA Nebraska Regional at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 20 in Lincoln, Neb. Maine is the No. 8 seed in the regional, while California was the top regional seed and the fifth seed overall. The Black Bears earned a trip to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship after receiving an automatic bid from the 2004 America East Championship. Maine defeated Boston University, 2-1, for its first conference championship and NCAA appearance since 1994.
Bracket
The other six teams in the eight-team regional include Florida Atlantic, Creighton, Lehigh, Nebraska, Mississippi State and Iowa. The eight regional tournaments will run from May 20 until Sunday, May 23. The regional winners advance to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), an eight-team, double-elimination tournament May 27-31 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.