Instant Reaction: Husky Softball awarded #5 overall seed

The Husky Softball team earned the #5 overall seed in the 2018 NCAA tournament and will host the regional round next Friday-Sunday on Montlake.

Joining UW (44-8, 15-8 Pac-12) will be Minnesota (38-15, 17-4 Big Ten), Texas (32-24, 10-8 Big 12), and the Huskies' first-round opponent, Boise State (40-14, 18-6 Mountain West).

The Gophers and Longhorns will start the double elimination regional at 6 PM Pacific Friday night (ESPN), with Huskies vs Broncos following at approximately 8:30 (ESPNU). All games will be available on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN/2/U/3 - I don't think any are only on the ESPN+ package).

Also of note, the other regional paired with the winner of the Seattle regional is the Tuscaloosa regional, led by #12 Alabama. If seeds hold, Alabama and Washington will play for the third time in the past four postseasons. The Crimson Tide host Oregon State, Wisconsin, and Middle Tennessee State.

There will be a full look into the other teams in the coming days. Here's a start:

Minnesota's Amber Fiser vs Texas' Paige Von Sprecken is a really good pitching matchup in game 1, but the Gophers' lineup should give them the edge against a Longhorns team that can struggle offensively.

The Huskies should be able to score runs vs a Boise State pitching staff that rarely dominated MW opponents. But can Taran Alvelo and/or Gabbie Plain stop an elite BSU offense from turning this into a shootout?

Preliminary Schedule

Note: All games will be available on one of the ESPN networks. Only Friday's games have been determined as to which one.

Friday

G1: Minnesota vs Texas, 6 PM, ESPN

G2: Washington vs Boise State, 8:30 PM, ESPNU

Saturday

G3: Winner G1 vs Winner G2, 2 PM

G4: Loser G1 vs Loser G2 (loser gets 4th), 4:30 PM

G5: Loser G3 vs Winner G4 (loser gets 3rd), 7 PM

Sunday

G6: Winner G3 vs Winner G5, 4 PM

G7 (only if G6 winner already had a loss): rematch of G6, 6:30 PM