USC Aiken Earns Spot in NCAA Division II Softball Tournament
INDIANAPOLIS – The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team earned an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Division II Softball Tournament on Monday, May 9, 2011.
The announcement was made during the official NCAA selection show on NCAA.com. The NCAA Division II Softball Championship includes 64 teams and 16 four-team regionals.
In the Southeast region, USC Aiken will be playing in the Lenoir-Rhyne portion of the region bracket in Hickory, N.C. National No. 2 North Georgia is hosting the other four-team region. The North Georgia regional features the host Saints (47-9, Erskine (24-15-1), Flagler (40-16) and Augusta State (34-18).
The Pacers are joined in the Lenoir-Rhyne region by the host Bears, Armstrong Atlantic State and Carson-Newman.
USC Aiken will be making its second appearance in regional play in the last three seasons. The Pacers earned their first ever NCAA Tournament bid in 2009.
USC Aiken will commence the Lenoir-Rhyne regional against the nationally sixth-ranked Bears at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 13.
The Pacers and the South Atlantic Conference champion Bears squared off earlier this season with the two splitting a doubleheader on Feb. 20, 2011 in Hickory, N.C. USC Aiken won game one, 1-0, before Lenoir-Rhyne (41-8) garnered a 7-6 win in eight innings in the second contest.
Armstrong Atlantic State (30-12) and Carson-Newman (39-15-1) will battle in the other opening game of the four-team regional.
The 2011 USC Aiken softball team is currently 26-16 in the 2011 season. The Pacers finished play in one of the toughest conferences in Division II softball in the Peach Belt Conference with a record of 9-11.
The winner of each of the two four-team regionals will advance to the Super Regionals on May 20-21 at the facility of the highest seed remaining out of the winner of the Lenoir-Rhyne and North Georgia regionals.
The NCAA Division II Softball Championship series will be contested May 26-30 at the Moyer Complex in Salem, Va.
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