The ESPN family of networks will air all sixteen Division I regionals this weekend, and the Worldwide Leader has announced the broadcast teams that will call each respective regional.
Beth Mowins and Michele Smith are slated to call the Tucson regional, where #6 Arizona will host. Amanda Scarborough, who, along with Smith, was one of two color commentators that called the SEC tournament last week, is paired with play-by-play commentator Courtney Lyle, considered a rising star in the industry, and the duo will call the Minneapolis regional, where #7 Minnesota will host Georgia, Drake, and North Dakota State.
#1 Oklahoma will see Pam Ward and Jenny Dalton-Hill calling the games in Norman, while the booth in Los Angeles for #2 UCLA will house the broadcast team of Tyler Bender and Leah O’Brien Amico.
Alabama alum Kayla Braud and Tennessee great Madison Shipman earned the first Regional assignments of their blossoming broadcasting careers. Braud, who spent the last few seasons as a studio analyst, will call the Tuscaloosa regional, as she returns to her alma mater. Shipman, in her first postseason assignment, will call the Gainesville regional.
Fifteen of the sixteen regionals include color commentators who also called a regional in 2018. Former UCLA star Amanda Freed Katchka is the only commentator who was in the booth in ‘18 that was not selected for a regional this year.
Another former UCLA star, Missy Dickerson, is the only SEC Network+ broadcaster to earn a regional assignment. Dickerson, a former Ole Miss head coach, has called Rebels home games on the SECN+ and will call the regional that is set for Oxford and includes the Rebels and Louisiana-Lafayette, as well as Southeast Missouri and Chattanooga.
Full list of regionals and assigned broadcasters
(Hosting team/location – play-by-play/color commentator)
Oklahoma/Norman – Pam Ward/Jenny Dalton-Hill
UCLA/Los Angeles – Tyler Bender/Leah O’Brien Amico
Washington/Seattle – Alex Pearlman/Kenzie Fowler
Florida St./Tallahassee – Mike Couzens/Erin Miller
Florida/Gainesville – Eric Frede*/Madison Shipman
Arizona/Tucson – Beth Mowins/Michele Smith
Minnesota/Minneapolis – Courtney Lyle/Amanda Scarborough
Alabama/Tuscaloosa – Tiffany Greene/Kayla Braud
Texas/Austin – Alex Loeb/Megan Willis
LSU/Baton Rouge – Matt Schumaker/Leigh Ross Dakich
Ole Miss/Oxford – Seth Austin/Missy Dickerson
Tennessee/Knoxville – Jenn Hildreth/Carol Bruggeman
Oklahoma State/Stillwater – Melissa Lee/Cheri Kempf
Kentucky/Lexington – Dave Baker/Francesca Enea
Michigan/Ann Arbor – Mark Neely/Danielle Lawrie-Locke
Northwestern/Evanston – Eric Frede*/Jennie Ritter
* = Play-by-play broadcaster Eric Frede was listed in an ESPN release as calling play-by-play for both the Gainesville and Evanston regionals; his name is listed above in both places, as in the release, and this roster will be updated when a clarification is gained from ESPN.
