Lady Eagles Take on Columbus State in First Round of NCAA Softball Tournament
May 9, 2005

Courtesy Carson-Newman College Sports Information Office

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles will begin play in the 2005 NCAA Division II National Softball Tournament on Thursday, May 12, the NCAA announced Monday afternoon.

The Lady Eagles will face Columbus State at 11 a.m. in the first game of the South Atlantic Regional Tournament which will be held Kennesaw State University. The Lady Eagles are the fourth-seed in the tournament and will take on fifth-seeded CSU. Other teams in the tournament include top-seeded Kennesaw State, second-seed North Florida, third-seed USC-Upstate and Coker, the number six seed.

The Lady Eagles, ranked #24 in the latest Division II poll, earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament by winning the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) tournament on April 24. The Lady Eagles are led by SAC Player of the Year Lisa Rogers (Ringgold, Ga.) and SAC Pitcher of the Year Megan Elliott (East Ridge, Tenn.). Rogers is batting .420 entering the tournament and leads the team with six homers and 39 RBI’s. Elliott leads the nation in wins with 39 (39-9 overall record) and has a 1.12 earned run average. The Lady Eagles were the regular season SAC champs as well as the tournament winners.

This will be the second meeting between the Lady Eagles and Lady Cougars this season. CSU defeated the Lady Eagles 6-1 on Feb. 19. in a tournament at Georgia College. Columbus State is ranked #20 in Division II and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Peach Belt Tournament.

The South Atlantic Region may be one of the toughest regionals in the nation as four of the six teams are ranked. In addition to #24 Carson-Newman and #20 Columbus State, the tournament will feature #4 Kennesaw State and #9 North Florida. Kennesaw State, the host school, is 48-10 and tied with North Florida for the Peach Belt regular season title. North Florida enters the games with a 39-10 record. USC-Upstate is 43-13 this season and Coker, the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference champions, is 31-15.

All of the Lady Eagles games in the regional tournament will be audio-cast on the Carson-Newman website. Visit www.cn.edu and click on the TeamLine icon on the athletics page.

2005 South Atlantic Region Schedule

Day 1 May 12, 2004
Game 1 Carson-Newman vs. Columbus State 11:00 am
Game 2 USC-Upstate vs. Coker 1:30 pm
Game 3 Kennesaw State vs. Winner Game 1 5:00 pm
Game 4 North Florida vs. Winner Game 2 7:30 pm

Day 2 May 13, 2004
Game 5 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4 12:00 pm
Game 6 Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 2 2:30 pm
Game 7 Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 5:00 pm
Game 8 Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 7:30 pm

Day 3 May 14, 2004
Game 9 Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 12:00 pm
Game 10 Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 2:30 pm

Day 4 *May 15, 2004
Game 11 *Necessary only if Winner Game 9 1:00 pm defeats Winner Game 7 in Game 10