The saying goes, “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.” And so it goes for the Missouri St. softball team, which was picked as an at large bid to the NCAA Regionals on Sunday. Their first round game will be against top-seeded UCLA on Friday night in Los Angeles.

The Bears (40-15) earned an automatic bid to the regionals by going 3-0 this weekend and winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Omaha. Missouri St., which won each game by a score of 4-0, topped Wichita St. on Saturday to clinch the title. Missouri Valley Conference mates, Southern Illinois and MVC regular-season champ, Illinois St., received at-large bids.

MSU (40-15) is making its fifth NCAA Tournament on the Division I level and its first since 1998. They also advanced in 1983, 1996 and 1997.

The other first-round match-up in the regional will feature Long Beach St. (30-20) against San Diego St. (32-13).

Related web sites:
NCAA Softball Bracket