Texas Longhorns named No. 1 seed in NCAA softball tournament for first time in program history

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Despite dropping the Big 12 Conference tournament championship game to Oklahoma on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns are the top seed in the NCAA softball tournament for the first time in program history.

The tournament selection committee announced the bracket Sunday with the Longhorns at the top, and they'll open play against Siena at 3 p.m. Friday at McCombs Field. It's the Longhorns' 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and 24th overall.

"I definitely thought we'd be in the top four," Longhorns head coach Mike White said. "Just the way the RPI laid out, we were a strong No. 1. I felt that we had a good weekend at the Big 12 championships and I think it was decided before the last game, anyway."

St. Francis (Penn.) and Northwestern are the other teams coming to Austin for the regional round. They'll play after the Longhorns take on the Saints in the double-elimination tournament. The winner will advance to the super regional round, a best-of-three series to determine who makes the Women's College World Series field.

Siena (33-20) won its first-ever Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, entering the tournament as the No. 6 seed and rattling off four wins in as many days to get it done. The Saints, from Loudonville, N.Y., beat Canisius 7-6 in the MAAC title game Saturday after beating them the day before 8-4. The Saints topped third-seeded Rider and second-seeded Niagara in the conference tournament. This is the Siena's first-ever NCAA tournament berth.

• View the full NCAA softball tournament field

The Longhorns lead Division I teams with a .383 batting average and are second to Oklahoma with a .461 on-base percentage. They score 8.26 runs per game, second to Miami (OH). Siena hits .270 as a team and scores 4.48 runs per game.

Sophomore catcher Reese Atwood leads Division I with 86 RBIs and is No. 5 with 22 home runs to earn Big 12 player of the year honors. Both are program records. Ashton Maloney is No. 12 with a .437 batting average.

"Now the season really starts," White said. "We have to be prepared for these three teams coming in here, and everyone has a good pitcher up their sleeve."

If the Longhorns win the regional, they'll stay at home for the super regional round and play the winner of the College Station regional. That's right, the committee gave Texas A&M (40-13) the No. 16 seed and they'll take on Albany in their first game. Texas State, winners of the Sun Belt Conference tournament, was the last team announced on ESPN's selection show, and they'll head to College Station to take on Penn State. The Bobcats beat Louisiana, the No. 13 overall seed in the national tournament, 9-5 to claim the conference tournament title.

NCAA softball tournament seeds

• 1. Texas, 47-7
• 2. Oklahoma, 49-6
• 3. Tennessee, 40-10
• 4. Florida, 46-12
• 5. Oklahoma State, 44-10
• 6. UCLA, 37-10
• 7. Missouri, 43-15
• 8. Stanford, 43-13
  • Top 8 seeds will host super regional round if they win regional tournament
• 9. LSU, 40-15
• 10. Duke, 47-6
• 11. Georgia, 39-16
• 12. Arkansas, 36-16
• 13. Louisiana, 42-17
• 14. Alabama, 33-17
• 15. Florida State, 43-14
• 16. Texas A&M, 40-13
  • Top 16 seeds host regional tournaments