May 10, 2009
ATLANTA – ACC Softball regular season and tournament champion Georgia Tech (43-13) has earned its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and will host the Atlanta Regional the selection committee announced tonight. The Yellow Jackets, a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history, will host Iowa, Auburn and Boston University at Mewborn Field, May 15-17. Tech is the No. 14 national seed.
“We are very excited to host a regional and be able to show off our new stadium to the nation,” head coach Sharon Perkins said. “We have played well at home this season and now our great fans will have a chance to see some exciting postseason games. These are three exceptional teams coming to Atlanta and we are looking forward to this weekend.”
Georgia Tech watched the selection show via satellite television in the bus back from Raleigh, N.C., where it beat Florida State in the ACC Championship game this afternoon, 3-1. Tech scored all three runs in the first inning and sophomore pitcher Kristen Adkins made it stand up as she earned tournament MVP honors for allowing just one run in 13 innings over the weekend.
The Yellow Jackets will face Boston University in the first round of the double-elimination format on Friday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m. The Terriers head into the NCAA Tournament with a 41-16 record and won the America East Conference Tournament. At-large selections Iowa and Auburn will play in the other game of the Atlanta regional at 5 p.m. The Hawkeyes finished fourth in the Big 10 with an overall record of 42-14, while Auburn was 29-27 after finishing fourth in the SEC West.
The winner of the Atlanta regional matches up with the winner of the Amherst (Mass.) region in the Super Regionals for a berth in the Women’s College World Series. UMass will host No. 3 seed Washington as well as Sacred Heart and Cornell.
For complete information on the Atlanta Regional including ticket information, please visit www.ramblinwreck.com Monday morning.
Georgia Tech is 13-14 (.481) all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 2-4 (.333) under 2009 ACC Coach of the Year Sharon Perkins. The Jackets have won at least one game in each of their seven prior trips. They’ve never advanced out of a regional, but have won their first game five out of seven times.
Georgia Tech will take an eight-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament and have won 17 of their last 20 games. The Yellow Jackets won every ACC series this season and have taken 10 straight series’ dating back to last season.
2009 NCAA Softball Atlanta Regional
Friday, May 15
Game 1: Iowa (42-14) vs. Auburn (29-27) 5 p.m.
Game 2: No. 14 Georgia Tech (43-13) vs. Boston University (41-16) 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 16
Game 3: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2 1 p.m.
Game 4: loser game 1 vs. loser game 2 3:30 p.m.
Game 5: loser game 3 vs. winner game 4 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 17
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 5 1 p.m.
Game 7: same teams (if necessary) 3:30 p.m.
