Peach Belt Sends Four Softball Teams to NCAA Tournament
INDIANAPOLIS, IND – Four Peach
Belt softball teams learned on Monday that their season will
continue as the NCAA released the 64-team field from the national
office. Eight teams in the southeast region will play in two
four-team sub-regionals. North Georgia, the #1 team in the
nation, will host one of the sub-regionals that will also feature
Francis Marion. Augusta State and Armstrong Atlantic State
will play in the other sub-regional, hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne.
Regional play begins this Friday, May 2.
North Georgia will be the top overall seed in the Dahlonega
Regional, hosting and matching up with No. 8 seed Queens University
of Charlotte in the opening round, while No. 4 Francis Marion will
take on No. 5 Carson-Newman at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium on
the opening day of the NCAA Southeast Regional in Dahlonega.
The Saints enter the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid from
the Peach Belt Conference, capturing their second straight regular
season and tournament championship. The Saints have been ranked
atop the NFCA Division II Poll in every regular season ranking this
season and are currently the only undefeated team in the country at
45-0.
The Patriots enter the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid as the
No. 4 seed in the Southeast Regional after finishing the season at
34-14 overall. The Patriots were runner-up in the Peach Belt
Conference tournament championship, winning four of their last six
games as the Patriots are just two years removed from advancing to
the Division II World Series in 2008.
Augusta State’s postseason bid is the third in the last four
seasons for the ASU softball program, now in its 12th year under
the direction of the head coach Melissa Mullins. The Jaguars
enjoyed the winningest regular season in school history under
Mullins and posted a 38-15 overall record while finishing second in
the Peach Belt Conference. ASU earned the highest national ranking
in school history during the 2010 regular season, climbing as high
as No. 10 on two occasions.
Armstrong Atlantic State will be making their eighth NCAA DII
championships appearance in the last 10 seasons. 33-18
overall on the season, the Pirates reached the semifinals of the
PBC Tournament after finishing fourth in the league
standings. AASU will take on Augusta State in the first game
at Lenoir-Rhyne, AASU has beaten the Jaguars in two of three
meetings, including a game at the PBC Tournament.
Host Lenoir-Rhyne will be facing seventh-seeded Mars Hill in the
first round.
The winners of each sub-regional will come together for a super-regional three-game series at the highest seed. The winner of that series will earn one of the eight spots in the DII World Series May 27-31 in St. Joseph, Mo.
2010 NCAA Softball Tournament
Dahlonega
Regional
Friday, May 14
#4 Carson-Newman vs. #4 Francis Marion, 5:00
#8 Queens at #1 North Georgia, 7:30
Hickory
Regional
Friday, May 14
#6 Armstrong Atlantic State vs. #3 Augusta State, 1:30
#7 Mars Hill at #2 Lenoir-Rhyne, 4:00