After a remarkable regular season, one that saw Oregon softball win every Big Ten series (16 in a row dating back to last season), take 40 games overall, transfer Elon Butler hit for the first cycle in program history and Amari Harper receive a Golden Ticket and a selection to the Oklahoma City Sparks in the AUSL, Oregon is not done just yet. 

Though it was knocked out of the Big Ten Softball Tournament by the Wisconsin Badgers, who upset the Ducks last week, Oregon has its sights set on the bigger picture: the NCAA Softball Tournament.

“It was a tough loss for us in the Big Ten Tournament, but I think about some things that we needed to get figured out, and it gave us the opportunity to do that,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. 

Oregon is officially hosting the Eugene Regional, it learned on Sunday. The Ducks will play the Idaho State University Bengals. Also headed to Eugene are the Saint Mary’s Gaels and the No. 5 Mississippi State Bulldogs. It’s important to remember that the Regionals are double-elimination tournaments, meaning the Ducks and all other teams would have to lose twice before being knocked out.

“Postseason mentality, man. I’ve experienced it last year and, honestly, if I was an opponent I would not want to go play at the Jane,” Stefini Ma’ake said.

The NCAA Tournament is working a bit differently this year. The NCAA decided to seed 50% of the bracket this season, that means the No. 1 seed will play the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed will play the No. 7 seed, and so on. 

“I think we really just wanted to host, and that was our biggest goal,” Amari Harper said.

Then, the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed have a chance to host the Super Regionals at home. 

So, if the University of Alabama, University of Texas, University of Oklahoma, Nebraska, University of Arkansas, University of Florida, University of Tennessee and UCLA win their Regionals, they would host Super Regionals at home.

Who else is hosting?

• No. 1 seed Alabama Crimson Tide is hosting the Tuscaloosa Regional
• No. 1 overall Texas Longhorns is hosting the Austin Regional 
• No. 1 seed Oklahoma Sooners is hosting the Norman Regional 
• No. 1 seed Nebraska Huskers is hosting the  Lincoln Regional
• No. 2 seed Arkansas Razorbacks is hosting the Fayetteville Regional 
• No. 2 seed Florida Gators is hosting the Gainesville Regional
• No. 2 seed Tennessee Lady Vols is hosting the Knoxville Regional
• No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins is hosting the Los Angeles Regional

Above are the teams that could host a Super Regional if they win their bracket. Below are teams that could travel to another location for a Super Regional.

• No. 3 seed Florida State Seminoles is hosting the Tallahassee Regional
• No. 3 seed Georgia Bulldogs is hosting the Athens Regional
• No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders is hosting the Lubbock Regional
• No. 3 seed Duke Blue Devils is hosting the Durham Regional
• No. 4 seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls is hosting the Stillwater Regional
• No. 4 seed Texas A&M Aggies is hosting the Bryan-College Station Regional
• No. 4 seed Louisiana State University Tigers is hosting the Baton Rouge Regional

Games start this week on Friday, May 15. The Ducks will play the Idaho State Bengals at 7pm PT. The game will be broadcast via KWVA (radio) and on ESPN U (TV).

This story was updated with quotes from Oregon.