University of Michigan Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The University of Michigan softball team returns to the NCAA Tournament, earning its 31st selection in program history, and will head to the Austin Regional to open play against UCF at 1 p.m. CDT on Friday (May 16) at Red & Charlie McCombs Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

No. 6 seed Texas will serve as the host school and face Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. CT on Friday on the other side of the regional bracket. The regional round is a four-team, double-elimination tournament played over three days.

The winner of the Tucson Regional will move on to a super regional against the winner of the regional being hosted by Arizona. That regional consists of No. 13 overall seed Arizona, Ole Miss, Grand Canyon, and Santa Clara. The super regional is a best-of-three format with the winner advancing to the eight-team Women’s College World Series, scheduled for May 29-June 6 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Michigan (38-19) is making its 31st NCAA Tournament appearance (1992-93, ’95-2022, ’24-25) after earning the Big Ten Conference’s automatic bid as tournament champions for the second year in a row. The Wolverines are 90-25 all-time in the NCAA Regional round and have won 18 regional titles.

Austin Regional Schedule

Friday, May 16

Game 1 — #2 seed UCF vs. #3 seed Michigan, 1 p.m. CT

Game 2 — #1 seed Texas vs. #4 seed Eastern Illinois, 3:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, May 17

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, Noon CT

Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2:30 p.m. CT

Game 5 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 5:00 p.m. CT

Sunday, May 18

Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, Noon CDT

Game 7 (if necessary) — Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 2:30 p.m. CDT