NCAA Softball Tallahassee Regional beginning May 16
First game: No. 2 Auburn (32-22) vs. No. 3 USF (43-14-1), at Noon on ESPNU.
Second game: No. 1 Florida State (46-9) vs. No. 4 Robert Morris (30-16) at 2:30 p.m. on the SEC Network
When this season for USF softball is consigned to the archives, it will be filed under “The Bulls Kept Coming Back.”
“It’s the ability to play the game to 21 out. We came back so many times this year, down by five runs, three runs, two outs in the seventh inning,” long-time Bulls coach Ken Eriksen said.
“They were so resilient, fun to watch, exciting to watch. I think that's probably gonna be the biggest thing. We told them at the beginning of the year that if you want fans to come out to the ballpark, you have to play exciting softball. And they did. It's really, really fun to watch them play.”
The play continues on Friday when USF faces Auburn in the first game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional.
The Bulls are there thanks to that comeback trait they exhibited last weekend at the American Athletic Conference tournament. They trailed North Texas by four runs entering the last of the fifth inning, but rallied for a 5-4 win to clinch the championship.
It's what they do.
The Bulls have 17 come-from-behind wins this season, which ranks in the top 10 among Division I NCAA programs.
However, it’s more than just a number. It’s a brinksmanship show that no game is over until the last out is made.
That was never more true than in the series finale at Wichita State. USF trailed by five runs entering the seventh inning, but Alaina Rivera’s two-run homer got the Bulls closer.
Then, after going down to the Bulls’ last strike, DaNia Brooks delivered a three-run bomb to tie the game. It ended that way because USF had a plane to catch, but the non-loss felt like a win.
The Bulls are making their 18th NCAA tournament appearance. Seventeen of those, including a 2012 trip to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, have come on Eriksen’s watch.
Despite finishing in a tie for last in the SEC, Auburn received the No. 2 seed because of a higher RPI ranking than USF. After beginning the season 20-1, the Tigers lost their first 13 SEC games
They were eliminated in the first round of the SEC tournament, 3-2 by Alabama.
“We're very excited about the matchup. There's no doubt about that. I mean, it's just bring on all comers. That's the way we've always been here.
“It just goes back to the mantra that we've got to worry about ourselves and what we do correctly. We know they're a formidable opponent because they're in the postseason, but I don't think it's anything we haven't seen already.”
Eriksen put together a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare for this moment. While the Bulls were mercy-ruled by Florida 8-0 early in the season, they hung tough at Texas and dropped a pair of one-run games to Big Ten champ Michigan.
“Our schedule has been really tough. We've seen the best pitchers in the country in Texas and Florida and Michigan, and so forth,” Eriksen said.
“The reason I've always put that schedule together is because I'm not here just to win a COVID championship. We're here to get to the NCAA postseason and hopefully return to Oklahoma City. That's why we put our schedule together the way we do, so there are no surprises when you get to the first round of the tournament.”