Columbia Regional Added to ESPN’s Lineup
LAWRENCE, Kan. – ESPN announced the addition of the Columbia Regional to its lineup of a record-setting 12 televised Regionals during the first weekend of the 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Championship on Tuesday.
After earning its second-straight NCAA Tournament bid, Kansas opens Regional action against Louisville on Friday, May 15 at 4 p.m., which will air on ESPN3. KU’s remaining games in Columbia, Missouri will be broadcast on either ESPN3 or the SEC Network+. During the regular season, the Jayhawks had six televised games, including three on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN3. Additionally, every Kansas softball game will air on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
For the first time ever, ESPN will cover up to 84 Regional games at 12 separate campus sites. The No. 1 overall seed Florida highlights the first weekend of the championship as the Gators host the Gainesville Regional. Overall, ESPN’s Regional round coverage will feature 10 of the top 11 seeds including No. 3 Michigan (Ann Arbor Regional), No. 4 Auburn (Auburn Regional), No. 5 LSU (Baton Rouge Regional), No. 6 Alabama (Tuscaloosa Regional), No. 7 UCLA (Los Angeles Regional), No. 8 Tennessee (Knoxville Regional), No. 9 Florida State (Tallahassee Regional), No. 10 Missouri (Columbia Regional) and No. 11 Oklahoma (Norman Regional). Additionally, No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette (Lafayette Regional) and No. 14 Georgia (Athens Regional) will also be covered.
ESPN will continue coverage of the Super Regionals (May 21-24) and conclude with the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (May 28 – June 5).
ESPN’s 2015 NCAA Softball Championship Regional Round coverage will be supplemented by Bases Loaded for the first time, a concept which has been utilized during the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. Bases Loaded will provide look-ins to multiple live games throughout the day, while also recapping the entire tournament up to that moment. Matt Schick and Brendan Fitzgerald will host and Garland Cooper will provide the analysis.
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