Eight of nine Pac-12 softball teams will be playing for the NCAA Championship in the coming weeks, as the NCAA Committee announced Sunday night the 64 teams vying for the 2012 NCAA Division 1 Softball Championship. All regionals will be held May 18-20, except for the Eugene regional that will take place May 17-19.

30 conferences were given automatic qualification and the other 34 spots were filled with at-large selections, the NCAA website stated. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and are set to play at campuses this weekend. Four teams will play each of the 16 regional sites in double-elimination format.

"I feel like this year more than any other year its been more wide open," said Jessica Mendoza, Stanford left fielder (1999-02), four time 1st All-American and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist. "You've seen the bats kind of quiet down, the pitching really step up and because of that you're seeing less runs scored. You're going to see a lot closer games."

"This has been the year of the freshmen and the year of the underclassmen," said Michele Smith, Oklahoma State pitcher (1986-89) and ASA Softball Hall of Fame Inductee (2004). "We've had some outstanding effort by the young kids."

SCHEDULE

May 17-20: Regionals -- Double Elimination

May 24-27: Super Regionals -- Best-of-3

May 31-June 6: Women's College World Series -- Double Elimination

June 4-6: Championship Series -- Best-of-3

The top 8 seeds will host regionals and if they can hold on, super regionals.

California -- Overall No. 1 seed -- Making its 28th NCAA appearance and 27th straight -- Finished the regular season 50-4 overall and captured the Pac-12 regular season title with a 21-3 record -- Led by Valerie Arioto, Jolene Henderson and Jamia Reid -- 3rd consecutive year with a Top-16 seed -- Ranked No. 1 in polls in 12 of 13 weeks -- Won 2002 National Championship.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for us, we've waited so many years to be able to host," said Cal head coach Diane Ninemire. "What I saw in that team in 2002 was the strong will to win and the same team in 2012 has the same will as the 2002 team and so I think we have all the pieces that we need in order to win a championship."

2. Alabama -- Won the SEC regular season and SEC tournament titles; the latter after defeating Florida 10-1 last Saturday -- Led by SEC Pitcher of the Year Jackie Traina -- 8 of 9 starters are hitting over .300 -- SEC Coach of the Year Patrick Murphy -- Led SEC in BA, HR and runs scored.

3. Arizona State -- Defending NCAA Champions - Finished 2nd in the Pac-12 -- Lost only one series all year (Cal) -- Went 46-7 overall -- Last year then-freshman Dallas Escobedo led the Sun Devils on the mound and this year senior Katelyn Boyd and the offense can hit hard -- Led Pac-12 in scoring (7.3 runs per game).

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In front of 1,025 fans at Levine-Fricke Field in Berkeley, Calif., No. 1 California shutout No. 2 Arizona State 5-0 on Friday to earn the inaugural Pac-12 title and its first outright since 1987. The Golden Bears tied for first in the conference in 2005. With the title, California receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Coming into the weekend series, the final of the 2012 regular season, the Pac-12 title was a toss-up for the first team to win two games, determined by a three-game round-robin play. Cal won the first game of the series on Thursday, 4-2, with a two-run, walk-off homer by Valerie Arioto.

Cal's shutout was the 24th of the season and the eighth of the Pac-12 competition.

The Golden Bears first got on board in the bottom of the second when Danielle Henderson (2 H, 3 RBI) hit to left center, just missing the length for a homer, for an RBI single. Henderson drove in a second run in the bottom of the fourth for a 2-0 lead. Then in the bottom of the fifth Cal scored three; two by Elia Reid (1 H, 2 RBI) and one more by Henderson, who plated Jace Williams from third.

On the mound, Lowe's Senior Class Player of the Year candidate Valerie Arioto (20-2) threw a complete game and struck out 11 Sun Devils. Arioto allowed just six hits and one walk against 30 batters faced. She tossed 108 pitches.

The third and final game between Cal and Arizona State is on May 12. Valerie Arioto, Frani Echavarria, Elia Reid, Jamia Reid and Jace Williams will be celebrated for Senior Day.

Lucky number seven for California as the Golden Bears were voted No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA poll from May 8 for the seventh straight week, this time earning all 30 first-place votes. Cal earned its fifth Pac-12 series sweep and its seventh overall Pac-12 series victory on the season, taking out Oregon State on the road, 9-1 in five, 4-2 and 4-1.

In the final win of the series, on the mound for Cal, Jolene Henderson (29-1) struck out 12 in 7.0 innings pitched. She allowed just four hits, one earned run and five walks and hit one batter.

Cal took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Ashley Decker scored on a sac fly. In the top of the third Cal took a 2-0 lead when, with bases loaded, Cheyenne Cordes hit a sac fly to left to plate Valerie Arioto from third. In the top of the sixth the Golden Bears added their final two runs when Lindsey Ziegenhirt homered to left-center.

Oregon State scored its single run in the bottom of the seventh but Jolene Henderson got the final two batters to strike out swinging and ground out, leaving two Beavers on base.

Next Cal will play its final Pac-12 series of the regular season May 10 to 12 against Arizona State.

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The No. 1 California Golden Bears -- for the sixth straight week in the USA Today/NFCA Poll released May 1, 2012 -- won all three against in-state rival UCLA this past weekend, earning its sixth Pac-12 series win of the season and its third sweep. Cal took down UCLA 3-0, 8-0 in six and 10-3.

In the 10-3 show, Cal had 10 runs on eight hits, 11 walks against UCLA pitchers Jessica Hall and Ally Carda and eight RBI's. Jace Williams led with three RBI's, while Cheyenne Cordes and Jolene Henderson each had two.

UCLA held a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after Andrea Harrison's 2-RBI home run, her 15th of the year. But Cal's bats were heating up as the Golden Bears scored three in the bottom when Jamia Reid stole home and Cordes's single to left plated Ashley Decker and Valerie Arioto.

Cal upped its advantage to 7-2 in the bottom of the second. UCLA then plated in the top of the third. But in the bottom Cal added its eighth run and in the bottom of the sixth earned the 10-3 win.

Next California is set to play at Oregon State May 4 to 6.

Arizona State jumped one spot behind Cal as the No. 2 team. The Sun Devils received one first-place vote. Last weekend they smoked Washington on the road, going 18-1 in five, 6-3 and 5-4.

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For the fifth straight week California is No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA poll released on April 24, 2012. The Golden Bears earned 29 first-place votes, but this time, Alabama is ranked fourth and the No. 2 team is Florida, receiving one first-place vote with a 41-5 record.

Last week PacificTakes asked its readers if they think Cal, which has four Pac-12 match-ups remaining in the regular season, will lose another game. Well, 72% answered "yes" and that percentage of people is correct.

The Golden Bears took out Santa Clara 10-2 in five innings during a single non-conference meeting on April 18 and followed up by going 2-for-3 at Oregon, losing just its third game all season, a 1-0 stint. The Golden Bears won the first 8-1 and the final 10-0 in six.

In the Golden Bears' 8-1 victory, Jamia Reid held a team-high three runs, with one hit and one RBI. Jace Williams (4 RBI), Danielle Henderson, Cheyenna Cordes, Ella Reid and Frani Echavarria (3 RBI) all had one run.

In the 1-0 decision, Oregon scored in the bottom of the sixth. Kaylan Howard singled off the right-center wall and ran to second on a Janie Takeda sacrifice bunt. Cal's Valerie Arioto threw a wild pitch and that allowed Howard to chase third and barely beat the out on a throw from home. On two outs and a 1-0 count, Howard scored from third on a Kailee Cuico single to right field.

In Cal's 10-0 win, the Golden Bears posted five runs in the top of the third and five in the top of the sixth, including three homers - with Arioto swinging her 20th of the season to break her own single-season record. Ashley Decker led the team with three RBI on a two-run homer and another hit.

"It felt great to come back with a big win today," Decker said. "Everyone came out strong with a lot of confidence, and that's all we needed."

Next Cal is set to travel to Berkeley to play UCLA for a series April 27 to 29.

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The California Golden Bears might have dropped their first Pac-12 game and home game of the season this past weekend against Arizona, but for the fourth straight week they are ranked as the top contender in the USA Today/NFCA poll from April 17, 2012. The Golden Bears earned 24 first-place votes and SEC opponent Alabama, ranked second, earned six.

Not only is California 39-2 overall and 11-1 in conference, but it is also in the top 10 of six Division I softball statistical categories: second in win-loss percentage (0.951), fourth in fielding percentage (0.979), tied for fourth with UCLA in home runs per game (1.51), fifth in slugging percentage (0.562), tied for fifth with UCLA in scoring (7.12) and sixth in batting average (0.337).

Cal beat Saint Mary's 9-0 on April 11 in a one-game non-conference stint and followed up in its series against Arizona with a 2-0 win, an 8-3 loss that broke its 15-game winning streak and a 6-0 win to end the weekend.

In the 8-3 drop, Cal was down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth before Breana Kostreba tied it 2-all on a two-run homer that brought Jace Williams across the plate. In the top of the sixth Arizona made it a 7-2 game after scoring five runs on four hits and one Cal error. In the seventh Arizona edged its score to 8-2, but Cal's Frani Echavarria answered in the bottom with an RBI single to score Cheyenne Cordes.

Echavarria led Cal in hits with two, but Cal was outhit by Arizona 13-3. The loss was the first of the season for Cal pitcher Valerie Arioto, who threw 5.1 innings and allowed eight hits, four runs, three earned, two walks, six strikeouts, one wild pitch and one hit by pitch.

Next Cal is set to host Santa Clara for a single game on April 18 at 3:00 p.m. PT. Cal will resume Pac-12 action on April 20 for a weekend series at Oregon.

After sweeping UCLA last week, No. 4 Arizona State went 1-for-2 at Oregon State, with the final game being cancelled because of poor weather. ASU lost the first meeting 4-2 in nine innings but took the second match in a 3-2 come-from-behind win.

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The Golden Bears are probably grinning after earning their third straight No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA poll from April 10, 2012, representing the ninth week of competition. Cal received 29 first-place votes and No. 2 Alabama earned one.

Cal captured its second and third overall Pac-12 series sweep last weekend taking down the Utah Utes on the road, 10-0 (five innings), 11-3 (five innings) and 12-3 (six innings), respectively. Cal stands a perfect 9-0 in Pac-12 play, 6-0 at home, 7-0 on the road and is 23-1 on neutral ground.

In Cal's 10-0 shutout senior Frani Echavarria had five RBI's from two doubles and one home run.

In the top of the second, Echavarria drove home Danielle Henderson and Victoria Jones from third and second, respectively, with a double to left. In the top of the third, Echavarria again doubled to left and scored Cheyenne Cordes. In the top of the fourth Echavarria homered to right to bring home Jones for the second time, from first base.

"After receiving a big target on our backs on (April 3) on being number one unanimously, every game is going to be tough because every team is going to play their best nine to beat us," Echavarria said. "So for us to come out as a team and win our first game by 10, speaks volumes about our team.

"We live to compete," Echavarria continued. "In the Pac-12, anyone can beat anyone. Personally, as a senior, I'm just trying to have fun and leave my mark. My teammates push me to play my best every day."

Cordes finished the game with three runs, Echavarria, Jones and Henderson had two and Breana Kostreba scored one.

On the mound Jolene Henderson earned her 19^th win of the season for Cal, tossing seven strikeouts and allowing just two hits in 5.0 innings.

Next the Golden Bears will play a single game at Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif. on April 11 at 3:00 p.m. PT.

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The Golden Bears of California for the second straight week were voted No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and for the first time this season were unanimously voted No. 1 in both national rankings, earning all 30 first-place votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll and all 20 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

Cal shutout Sacramento State 8-0 in five innings on March 28 and followed up by sweeping Washington this past weekend, March 30 to April 1. The sweep is Cal’s second Pac-12 series sweep of the season after beating Stanford last weekend in opening play.

The Bears prevailed 2-1, 5-3 and 6-4 respectively, against Washington sophomore pitcher Kaitlin Inglesby, who so far this season has been named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week, Pac-12 Player of the Week and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week.

In the first match-up, down 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh with bases loaded on two outs, Jace Williams was facing Inglesby on a 2-2 count. Inglesby had only given up one hit all game. Williams took the pitch and hit down the left-field line for a walk-off, bringing home Frani Echavarria from third and Jamia Reid from second for the winning run.

Next up, Cal will play at Utah April 5 to 7, with the first two games scheduled for 3:00 p.m. PT and the third at 11:00 a.m. PT.

The No. 4 Washington Huskies were swept for the first time this season, earning their first losses since Feb. 25 when they were shutout 2-0 by Missouri at the Cathedral City Classic.

Even though UW lost the series, head coach Heather Tarr said, "Overall this was a good weekend for us. Cal has great pitching and I thought we competed well at the plate. We take a lot of good learning opportunities with us as we continue on in Pac-12 play."

In the final game of the series, Kimi Polhman led with two runs, while both Victoria Hayward and Nikia Williams had one, with Williams hitting a two-run homer.

Next up, Washington will host Arizona April 5 to 7. The first two games begin at 6:00 p.m. PT, with the third at noon PT.

No. 7 Arizona State dropped two spots after splitting a weekend series at Oregon. The Sun Devils lost the first 3-0 but won the second 7-4. The third game on April 1 was cancelled due to poor weather.

In ASU’s win, Katelyn Boyd scored an unearned run and Haley Steele homered her seventh of the year, a two-runner that plated Elizabeth Caporuscio on a fielder’s choice. In the second game the Sun Devils scored four on five hits on two Oregon errors, with Annie Lockwood recording her second RBI of the game.

Next up, Arizona State will host UCLA April 5 to 7. The first two games are set for 7:00 p.m. PT, with the third for noon PT.

UCLA improved one spot to No. 13 after winning four of its last five games, including two of three in its Oregon State series.

The Bruins run-ruled Cal Poly 14-0 and beat them again 14-5 in their road double-header on March 27. Then this past weekend they won 8-4 and 8-0 (five innings) before dropping the final game 7-5 against Oregon State.

OSU held a 3-0 lead until UCLA tied it 3-all in the sixth after Kellie Fox hit a two-run homer in the fifth and B.B. Bates’ single brought home Stephany LaRosa from second. But, in the top of the seventh OSU plated four runs and the Bruins were unable to capitalize with bases loaded, as a fly out to center ended the game.

In the loss, Fox was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, LaRosa had two hits and Ally Carda smacked a two-run homer.

Next up, UCLA will travel to Tempe, Ariz. to face Arizona State April 5 to 7.

No. 14 Stanford fell one spot, but did win two in a row, including its first Pac-12 victory in its Arizona series March 30 to April 1.

The Cardinal beat Santa Clara 9-2 in a one-game stint March 28 and followed up by beating the Wildcats 4-1 in the series opener. Then, they lost the final two of the meeting 9-1 (five innings) and 3-1, respectively.

Teagan Gerhart earned her 22nd win of the season, improving to 22-3. She threw nine strikeouts in 7.0 innings and allowed just two hits, one run and four walks.

The Cardinal had eight total hits. Leah White (2-for-2) nabbed a pair of runs and both Hanna Winter (1-for-2) and Ashley Hansen (1-for-1) scored.

Next up, Stanford will host Oregon April 5 to 7 with the first two games scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT and the final at noon PT.

The Arizona Wildcats jumped two spots to No. 17 after going 2-for-3 in last weekend’s series with Stanford. The Cats lost the first game 4-1 and were 0-4 in conference play for the first time in school history, but came back with two wins, 9-1 (five innings) and 3-1, respectively.

In the eight-run victory, Brigette Del Ponte hit home runs in back-to-back at-bats, both two-run RBI’s to lead UA with 35 and nab her eighth and ninth homers of the season. Baillie Kirker also brought home four in two appearances with a bases-loaded walk to start the game and a three-run, walk-off homer in the fifth to end it.

Kenzie Fowler earned her ninth win of the season, striking out seven in 5.0 innings and allowing just one run on seven hits.

Next up, the Wildcats will travel to Seattle, Wash. for an April 5 to 7 series against the Huskies.

Oregon dropped one spot to tie for the second week in a row, this time with USF for 18th.

The Ducks swept Boise State in a non-conference series March 28 and 29, going 4-1, 14-6 and 6-4 respectively. They followed up with a split series against Arizona State March 31 and April 1, shutting out the Sun Devils 3-0 in game one but losing the second 7-4. The third was cancelled due to poor weather.

Pitcher Jessica Moore earned her 15th win on the season in the 3-0 match; striking out seven, walking two and allowing just four hits in 7.0 innings. She passed former record-holder Amy Harris in total strikeouts with 586, while Harris struck out 584 in her career from 2003-06. Moore also tied for fifth all-time in OU shutouts with 15.

Next up, Oregon will travel to Stanford for an April 5 to 7 series. The first two games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT, with the third at noon PT.

Rounding out the top 25 is Oregon State, which ranks in the top 25 for the first time since Feb. 12, 2008, when it came in at 25th in both USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls.

The Beavers earned three wins over top-15 teams this past week, including a series win over in-state rival Oregon (March 24 to 26) and a road upset of UCLA (April 1).

OSU took non-conference Cal State Northridge in a road double-header on March 28, winning 13-1 (five innings) and 5-1, respectively. While losing the first two at UCLA, 8-4 and 8-0 (five innings), respectively, the Beavers broke UCLA’s 12-game wining streak with a 7-5 win in game three.

Making her first Pac-12 start, freshman Aryn Feickert earned the win over UCLA and improved to 3-0. She tossed 6.1 innings and while she gave up five runs on seven hits, two unearned, she struck out two.

"I'm very proud of the team's effort and response after dropping the first two games of the series to a very good Bruin team," Oregon State head coach Kirk Walker said. "Aryn was fantastic and showed that she has what it takes to win big in the Pac-12."

Tied 3-all in the sixth after leading 3-0 in the fifth, the Beavers added four in the seventh. Paige Hall hit a double into left-center to score two and then Mary Claire Brenner followed in the next at-bat by plating a pair on a hit up the middle.

Next up, Oregon State will host Portland State for a non-conference double-header on April 4. Games are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. PT. OSU will get back to Pac-12 action when it hosts Arizona State April 10 and 11.

After being swept at Washington March 23 to 25, Utah won two non-conference games on March 28 and 29. The Utes blanked Utah State 7-0 and run-ruled at Idaho State 10-2.

In the Utah State shutout, the Utes’ fourth of the season, nine different Utes recorded hits and they had an explosive third inning with five runners scoring.

Chalese Fankhauser hit a two-run homer on a 2-2 pitch to get the first two runs. Whitney Holm followed with an RBI single for her 29th of the year. Katelyn Elliott loaded the bases with a base hit and Jackie Sweet did the same to drive in two runs for her 18th of the year. Kate Dickman then had an RBI triple, the first of her career, that brought home Elliot. The team’s final score came in the bottom of the sixth when Joni Cook came home on a fielder’s choice by Desaray Akins.

Next up, Utah will host Hawai’i on April 3 at 4:00 p.m. MT.

Standings: Conference, Overall

California: 6-0, 33-1

Arizona State: 4-1, 32-4

UCLA: 2-1, 25-7

Washington: 3-3, 32-4

Oregon State: 3-3, 26-10

Oregon: 2-3, 23-7

Arizona: 2-4, 23-9

Stanford: 1-5, 27-8

Utah: 0-3, 23-8