The UCLA softball team lost to Utah, 7-4, in the Pac-12 Conference championship game on Saturday, but that did not end up affecting the Bruins’ postseason fate.
On Sunday, the Bruins received the No. 2 overall seed for the 64-team NCAA tournament and the right to host one of 16 four-team regionals.
UCLA is making its NCAA tournament-record 38th appearance and will host a regional for the ninth consecutive season.
The Bruins (52-5) will be joined in the Los Angeles regional by San Diego State, Liberty and Grand Canyon. The three-day regional stage is double-elimination, with the winner advancing to a best-of-three super regional series the following week.
UCLA, which is 233-64 in the NCAAs since 1982, will open against Grand Canyon on Friday at 5 p.m.
Big West Conference champion Long Beach State and runner-up Cal State Fullerton are also in the field.
Long Beach (31-21), which swept a three-game series against Fullerton on Friday and Saturday to win the title, is the fourth seed in the Stanford Regional, where it will join Stanford, Loyola Marymount and Florida.
LBSU will take on No. 9 overall seed Stanford in the opener on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Titans (33-19) are the second seed in the Clemson Regional, joining the host Tigers, Auburn and UNC Greensboro. Fullerton gets started Friday against Auburn at 2:30 p.m. PT.
The NCAA tournament culminates with the eight-team Women’s College World Series, which is scheduled for June 1-9 in Oklahoma City.
