AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken and the city of Aiken have been chosen to host the 2005 and 2006 Peach Belt Conference Softball Tournaments, the league office announced yesterday. A recent PBC policy change allowed, for the first time, municipalities to submit proposals to host the tournament. To this point, the tournament was rotated among the league’s 11 softball-playing institutions. USCA has hosted the event on two previous occasions, 1994 and 2003.

The 2005 and 2006 tournaments will be held at Citizen’s Park, which served as the host facility in 2003. That tournament is considered by many Peach Belt coaches and administrators to be the best the conference has ever held.

“USC Aiken is pleased to partner with the City of Aiken Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department in bringing the 2005 and 2006 Peach Belt Softball Tournaments to Aiken,” USCA Director of Athletics Randy Warrick said. “They have hosted a number of local, regional and national tournaments and will do a super job, just as they did two years ago, with the PBC Softball Tournament.”

The Peach Belt Conference tournament is a 22-game affair stretched over three days with the tournament winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The 2005 PBC Tournament will run from April 15-17.

“I’m very happy with this new direction and with the selection that was made,” said PBC Commissioner Marvin Vanover. “I know that Aiken will do a spectacular job in hosting the tournament. I’m also very appreciative of the other communities that made proposals to host the tournament, all of them had outstanding facilities and it was a tough choice.”

The Lady Pacer softball team is coming off its first 30-win season since 2000. A total of 11 players return from last year’s 31-29 squad, including the school’s single season home run record holder, Jennifer Scott.

“I think having the tournament in Aiken for the next two years is a great opportunity for the City of Aiken to see the best college softball (NCAA) Division II has to offer and it will give the coaches and players from the other schools the opportunity to see all that Aiken has to offer,” said USCA Head Coach Jerry Snyder. “I am hoping that having it in Aiken will be an advantage for us, our players can sleep in there own beds and we will have a lot more fan support than we would have on the road.”

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