Carson-Newman softball to play in NCAA Tournament

Six-seeded Lady Eagles to face Wingate in opening round on Thursday The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles have received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II softball tournament, the NCAA announced Monday morning. The Lady Eagles are the number six seed and will face third-seeded Wingate in the first round of the South Atlantic Regional Tournament. C-N and Wingate will play at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 11. The regional tournament will be held in Columbus, Georgia May 11-15 at the 2,500-seat Olympic Stadium, the site of the softball venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The stadium hosted the 2000 National Softball Championships as well. Columbus State, the number one seed in the tournament, will serve as host. The other schools who will participate include Georgia College, Lenoir-Rhyne, USC-Upstate, Armstrong Atlantic and Queens. If the Lady Eagles defeat Wingate in the first round on Thursday, they would face the winner of the Georgia College-Armstrong Atlantic game on Friday at a time to be announced. The winner of the South Atlantic Regional will advance to the national finals to be held May 18-22, at the James I. Moyer Softball Complex in Salem, Virginia. Carson-Newman heads to the post-season with a 40-13 overall record. Coach Vickee Hollifield’s team finished third in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) regular season standings. This is the second consecutive season the Lady Eagles have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In addition to 2006, the Lady Eagles appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2005. Carson-Newman faced Wingate three times during the 2006 season with the Lady Bulldogs winning two of the three contests. The two teams split during the regular season as C-N won the first game 1-0 but dropped the second contest 7-2 in nine innings. Wingate downed C-N 4-0 in the second round of the SAC Tournament. Lisa Rogers and Megan Elliott lead the Lady Eagles into the post-season. Rogers, the two-time SAC Player of the Year, is batting .416 with nine homeruns and 32 RBIs. Megan Elliott leads the nation in wins with 29 and also carries a 1.58 ERA with 208 strikeouts. Tickets for all sessions are $7 for adults and $5 for students.