KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The NCAA Atlantic Regional softball tournament is coming back to North Campus Field. For the second straight year, No. 20 Kutztown softball received the top seed in the region and will host a four-team pod in regionals, beginning Thursday, May 12.
 
The No. 1 seeded Golden Bears (37-13 overall) will take on No. 8 Fairmont State in the opening game of the tournament at 11 a.m., Thursday. The second game of the day will be between the two other teams in the pod, No. 4 Mercyhurst and No. 5 West Virginia Wesleyan, scheduled for a 1:30 p.m., first pitch. There will be three games on Friday, the first is the winner's bracket game at 10 a.m., followed by two elimination games at 12:30 p.m., and 3 p.m. The championship is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Saturday, with a second game, if necessary, to be played right after.
 
Kutztown and Fairmont State have met 10 times in their histories, dating from 2009-through-2019. KU leads the all-time series 9-1 and won the last meeting between the teams, 7-3, back on March 13, 2019, in Clermont, Fla. Kutztown and Mercyhurst squared off twice last week in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament in Quakertown. KU won both games, including a 7-4 victory in the title game for their first championship since 2013. Kutztown last played West Virginia Wesleyan back on March 5, 2016, an 8-0 defeat for KU.
 
Unlike last season where KU hosted six teams in the regional championships, there will be two separate, four-team pods at host sites. Four teams will participate at each of the 16 regional sites in double-elimination tournaments, held May 12-14. Winners will advance to the super regionals, slated for May 19-20, at the highest seeded team which placed a bid to host. The finals will be held May 26-31, at the Assembly Athletic Complex in Denver and will be hosted by Metropolitan State University of Denver.
 
Kuztown will look to advance to its first Super Regional since 2013.
 
Information on game schedule, tickets and streaming is available below. Championship Central will be posted at a later time.
 
Game Schedule
 
Thursday, May 12
Game #1: #1 Kutztown vs. #8 Fairmont State, 11 a.m.
Game #2: #4 Mercyhurst vs. #5 West Virginia Wesleyan, 1:30 p.m.
 
Friday, May 13
Game #3: Game #1 Winner vs. Game #2 Winner, 10 a.m.
Game #4 (Elimination Game): Game #1 Loser vs. Game #2 Loser, 12:30 p.m.
Game #5 (Elimination Game): Loser Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4, 3 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 14
Game #6: Game #3 Winner vs. Game #5 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game #7: If Necessary
 
Ticket Information
 
Tickets will be available to be purchased in advance at Kutztown University | Ticketing - 2022 NCAA Regional Softball.
 
Ticket pricing Session (daily ticket) - $10 per person, $5 children/student/seniors; Tournament Pass (all days/games) - $24 per person, $12 children/student/seniors (children under 2 are free).
 
Live Coverage
 
Live video streaming and statistics can be found at the links below.
 
Stats | https://kubears.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
Video | https://kubears.com/sports/2022/3/9/golden-bear-sports-network.aspx