Big 12 Softball Championship May 8-10

The Big 12 Softball Championship returns to ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City for the 13th consecutive year. This year's event will take place from May 8-10, 2009.

The championship will be a three-day, single-elimination championship with all 10 schools that sponsor softball participating (Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech). The winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship.

As the first sport contested in league history, softball held a first postseason championship in 1996. Oklahoma won the inaugural league title, which was the only crown handed out that season. From that year on, both a regular season and postseason champion have been awarded.

Texas A&M claimed last year's crown for the first time in conference history en route to advancing the Women's College World Series finals. Overall, Texas (1999, 2002-03, '05) has won the most championships with four followed by Nebraska (1998, 2000, '04) and Oklahoma (1996, 2001, '07), with three each. Missouri (1997), Kansas (2006) and A&M have claimed top honors once.

In addition to the Big 12 Championships, Hall of Fame Stadium has hosted the Women's College World Series 18 times, including the last 12 seasons. A Big 12 squad has advanced 15 times to the Women's College World Series in the past 12 years, including Oklahoma's NCAA Championship in 2000.