Road to the WCWS: First look at Arizona softball’s opponents in Durham Regional
· Yahoo Sports
Arizona is headed to its 38th NCAA postseason of the last 39 that were held. The Wildcats will have to fight it out on the road if they hope to make it to their 26th Women’s College World Series.
History is on the Wildcats’ side. They have only lost in regionals four times in 37 attempts, although one of those came just last year at home. They are 107-14 in the regional round.
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Super regionals were introduced in 2005. If Arizona can pull off the upset in Durham, it will get to supers for the 18th time in 20 attempts. It would play Arkansas in Fayetteville, where it has advanced from regionals or super regionals twice in the past five years.
To do that, the Wildcats must get past the overall 12th-seeded Duke Blue Devils, the Marshall Thundering Herd, and the Howard Bison. What does each team bring to the table?
Understanding the seeding
The seeding will take some getting used to this season. The NCAA Selection Committee first broke down the top 32 seeds. The top 16 would be hosts through the regionals (top 16) and super regionals (top 8). Seeds No. 17-32 would be in “buckets” where they would be assigned based on competitiveness and geography.
The bucket of 17-20 seeds would be distributed to seeds 13-16 with an eye to geography and competitive balance. Next comes seeds 21-24, which were distributed to teams in the 9-12 range. Seeds ranked 25-28 went to face the 5-8 seeds. The top four seeds were assigned teams from the 29-32 “bucket.”
By the set of national seeds, Duke is the No. 12 overall seed and will host only through regionals. It was assigned a team from the 21-24 “bucket.”
After that, there are two other sets of “seeds” to look at. The 32 seeds are broken into quadrants similar to the NCAA basketball tournaments. There are four No. 1 seeds, No. 2 seeds, No. 3 seeds, No. 4 seeds, all the way to the No. 8 seeds. In this seeding, Duke is a No. 3 seed and Arizona is a No. 6 seed.
Each regional also has seeding. The host is the No. 1 seed in the regional. The team from the 17-32 seeds that was assigned to that site is the No. 2 seed. The No. 4 seed in the regional faces the No. 1 while the No. 3 seed goes up against the No. 2.
Duke Blue Devils (39-14, 20-4 ACC)
Seeding: Duke is the No. 12 national seed, a No. 3 seed in the quadrant system, and the No. 1 seed in the regional.
Rankings/ratings: Duke ended with the No. 12 RPI. It is No. 14 in both KPI and DSR.
Pitching: Duke has a staff ERA of 4.52 and a WHIP of 1.64. No one on the staff has an ERA below the 4.32 of KK Mathis, but she doesn’t have qualifying innings for NCAA purposes. The best ERA of a pitcher with qualifying innings is the 4.37 of Cassidy Curd. Curd’s 1.54 WHIP is also the best of a pitcher who has met the IP mark of the NCAA.
Hitting: The Blue Devils have hit 96 home runs this year. Tyrina Jones leads the way with 20, but they have three more in double figures. They have three players hitting .424 or better with the .465 of Jessica Oakland in front. Oakland is one of two who has 13 home runs. The team also has speed with 50 stolen bases in 53 attempts this season.
Things to know: The Blue Devils went 13-9 against teams that ended the season ranked in the NFCA poll.
Marshall Thundering Herd (37-17, 17-7 SBC)
Seeding: Marshall is the No. 3 seed in the regional.
Rankings/ratings: The Herd ended the season No. 28 in RPI, No. 26 in KPI, and No. 46 in DSR.
Pitching:Jules King leads the pitching staff with a 1.21 WHIP in 149.0 IP. Her ERA of 2.91 is second on the team. Paige Maynard leads the team with her 2.80 ERA. She is third in WHIP (1.54) and second in innings (105.0). Maddie Veal is third in innings pitched (96.2) and ERA (3.19). Her WHIP (1.50) is second.
Hitting: SBC Player of the Year Sydni Burko leads the Herd with 21 home runs and a .382 average. She is one of only three Marshall hitters who hits over .300. The team hits .279 as a group. Three other members of the Herd have at least 10 home runs. They stole 51 bases in 63 attempts and hit a total of 89 homers.
Things to know: The Herd lost to Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament. The Chanticleers beat Arizona in Tucson earlier this year, but it wasn’t as damaging to the Wildcats. Marshall was one of the last four teams in the field despite its RPI of 28.
Howard Bison (28-17, 18-3 MEAC)
Seeding: Howard is the No. 4 seed in the regional.
Rankings/ratings: The Bison ended the season No. 169 in RPI, No. 188 in KPI, and No. 198 in DSR.
Pitching:Aiko Conaway pitches the most with 131.2 IP this season. Julia Holt and Destiny Calloway provide support with 69.1 and 53.1, respectively. Conaway leads the trio with a 2.92 ERA. Holt is not far behind at 3.03. They both have a WHIP of 1.07. Calloway’s ERA is 4.07. Her WHIP is 1.50. As a group, the staff has an ERA of 3.26 and 1.26 WHIP.
Hitting: Howard likes to run. The Bison have three players who have attempted at least 21 stolen bases. All have succeeded at least 16 times. As a team, the Bison have 107 stolen bases in 126 attempts. Maryn Jordan hits .478. Six more players with qualifying numbers hit .300-.339.
Things to know: Holt is the daughter of the late Arizona Wildcats football player Julius Holt. She and her family were honored when the Bison visited Tucson for a game during the 2026 Hillenbrand Invitational.