May 14, 2006
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech softball team (46-20) received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the NCAA Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., announced by the NCAA Softball Committee on Sunday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets will be the No. 2 seed, and join No. 5 overall national seed Alabama (49-9), No. 3 seed Florida A&M (39-23) and No. 4 seed Mississippi Valley State (23-28).
“It’s always an honor when the NCAA Committee gives your team an at-large bid,” said Tech coach Ehren Earleywine. “We’ve had a good season and look forward to competing in the NCAA Tournament in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is one of the best teams in the country and we are going to have our hands full with this regional.”
“Our first game with Florida A&M will be tough, they have some athletes and a good pitcher that has thrown well as a freshman. I know that our team is excited and we look forward to the challenge.”
Tech receives an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. The Jackets will face Florida A&M in game one of the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional on Friday, May 19, at 5 p.m. ET, followed by No. 1 seed Alabama and No. 4 seed Mississippi Valley State.
The winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional will take on the winner of the NCAA Fresno Regional in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional series, which hosts No. 12 overall national seed Stanford (38-15), No. 2 seed Fresno State (35-17), No. 3 seed Cal State Fullerton (36-22) and No. 4 seed Tulsa (34-22).
The Jackets are one of five teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the NCAA Tournament. NC State (48-19), the 2006 ACC Tournament and regular season champion, will travel to Baton Rouge, La., as the No. 2 seed, North Carolina (48-17) will be the No. 2 seed in Gainesville, Fla., Florida State (41-26) will be the No. 2 seed in Athens, Ga., and Virginia Tech (38-19) will be the No. 3 seed in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tech finished tied for third with UNC at the ACC Tournament, falling to FSU 7-4 on Saturday night. The Jackets’ Amy Hosier, Christine Sheridan and Caitlin Lever were named to the ACC All-Tournament Team.
A look at the top 16 national seeds:
1. UCLA (43-7)
2. Arizona (44-9)
3. Texas (49-7)
4. Northwestern (42-12)
5. Alabama (49-9)
6. Arizona State (48-13)
7. Oregon State (38-13)
8. Tennessee (53-9)
9. Michigan (40-13)
10. California (44-12)
11. Georgia (51-13)
12. Stanford (38-15)
13. Texas A&M (33-17)
14. Washington (32-23)
15. LSU (51-12)
16. Florida (42-23)
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