2018 Puerto Vallarta College Challenge Field Announced
The Puerto Vallarta College Challenge tournament officials announced the 10 teams that will participate in the 2018 edition of the event. It will start on the opening week of the 2018 Division 1 college softball season ( Feb 8-10) and the second week of the season (Feb 15-17) in Mexico.
On the opening week of the season, the teams that will participate include Georgia, James Madison, Louisiana Tech, Long Beach State, and Nevada.
All games are local time (CT), the home team is listed second.
Thursday, February 8
Nevada vs. Georgia, 2 p.m.
LA Tech vs. Long Beach State, 5 p.m.
Georgia vs. James Madison, 8 p.m.
Friday, February 9
Long Beach State vs. Georgia, 2 p.m.
James Madison vs. LA Tech, 5 p.m.
Nevada vs. LA Tech, 8 p.m.
Saturday, February 10
Long Beach State vs. James Madison, 11 a.m.
Long Beach State vs. Nevada, 2 p.m.
James Madison vs. Nevada, 5 p.m.
LA Tech vs. Georgia, 8 p.m.
On the second week of the season, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Texas who all made the NCAA Tournament will be part of the field along with Houston and Rutgers.
Thursday, February 15
Houston vs. Oregon, 2 p.m.
Rutgers vs. Texas, 5 p.m.
Ole Miss vs. Texas, 8 p.m.
Friday, February 16
Houston vs. Ole Miss, 2 p.m.
Rutgers vs. Oregon, 5 p.m.
Texas vs. Oregon, 8 p.m.
Saturday, February 17
Ole Miss vs. Rutgers, 11 a.m.
Rutgers vs. Houston, 2 p.m.
Texas vs. Houston, 5 p.m.
Oregon vs. Ole Miss, 8 p.m.
In total 6 of the 10 teams made the NCAA Tournament in 2017 with Georgia, James Madison and Louisiana Tech in the first week and Oregon, Ole Miss, and Texas in the second week.
The marquee matchup of the opening week will take place on the opening night when Georgia takes on James Madison who will be led by All-American pitcher Megan Good. Good will look to lead the Dukes back into NCAA Tournament. That has happened all three seasons that Good has played.
Georgia had injuries and struggled last year missing the SEC Tournament, but made the NCAA Tournament losing in the Tallahassee Regional final against Florida State. Louisiana Tech won the Conference USA Tournament in 2017 and figures to be one of the contenders once again in CUSA. Long Beach State finished in a three-way tie for 2nd place in the Big West behind Cal State Fullerton. Nevada participated in the postseason in 2017 at the inaugural Postseason National Invitational Softball Championships (NISC).
The second weekend will headline Oregon who figures to be a top 10 team in 2018. The Ducks are fresh off an appearance at the Women’s College World Series losing to Oklahoma in the semi-final. Ole Miss figures to be a top 25 team in 2018 coming off a season where the Rebels won the SEC Tournament and advanced to the Super Regional before falling to UCLA. The Longhorns return a ton of players from 2017 that lost in College Station regional final to Texas A&M. The Cougars finished 2nd in American Conference in 2017 and lost in American Conference Tournament championship game to Tulsa 1-0. Rutgers rounds out the field as the Scarlet Knights will represent the Big Ten conference. The Puerto Vallarta College Challenge is produced by Triple Crown Sports.
