SPARTANBURG, SC -- Eight Southern Conference softball teams will converge on Chattanooga, TN, for the 2003 Softball Championships on Thursday, May 8. The tournament runs from Thursday, May 8 through Saturday, May 10.
College of Charleston, the 2003 regular season champion, enters the tournament as the top seed. This is the first time in six seasons that a team other than Chattanooga enters the tournament as the top seed. The Cougars have stood atop the conference standings the entire season, posting a 16-4 conference regular season record. Charleston is followed closely by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with a 14-6 regular season conference record. The Spartans enter the tournament as the second seed. Host team Chattanooga holds the third spot in the rankings. The Mocs have won six tournament crowns, with Furman, Marshall and Georgia Southern each picking up one apiece.
Game one of the championship will feature fourth-seeded Georgia Southern (26-26, 10-10 SoCon) and #5 East Tennessee State (24-24, 10-10 SoCon). The Eagles hold the regular season advantage taking two of three games of the regular season series. The second game of the day pits second-seeded UNC Greensboro (37-16, 14-6 SoCon) against #7 seed UNC Wilmington (22-36, 6-13 SoCon). UNC Greensboro defeated the Lady Seahwaks two of three games in the regular season meeting between these two teams in Wilmington.
The night session begins with #3 seeded Chattanooga (33-27, 12-8 SoCon) taking on #6 Furman (20-30, 8-13 SoCon). The two teams met in Chattanooga with the Mocs taking the three-game sweep. The Lady Paladins have appeared in five championship finals and won the inaugural championship in 1994, while Chattanooga has won three straight titles. Top-seeded College of Charleston (42-9, 16-4 SoCon) and eighth-seeded Appalachian State (16-33, 4-16 SoCon) will round out play on day one. Charleston is looking to clinch its first ever tournament title, having posted the program's best regular season and conference records, while Appalachian State tries to win its first.
The eight-team tournament is a double-elimination format with each team playing a minimum of two games. Competition begins Thursday, May 8 at 10:00 am and concludes with the championship on Saturday, May 10 beginning at 12:15 pm with the "if necessary" game at 2:30 pm.
For results, log on to www.SoConSports.com, the official website for The Southern Conference.
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: #4 Georgia Southern vs. #5 East Tennessee State (10:00am, Frost)
Game 2: #1 College of Charleston vs. #8 Appalachian State (4:45pm, Frost)
Game 3: #2 UNC Greensboro vs. #7 UNC Wilmington (12:15pm, Frost)
Game 4: #3 Chattanooga vs. #6 Furman (2:30pm, Frost)
Game 5: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 (7:00pm, Frost)
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 (7:00pm, Hargraves)
Friday, May 9
Game 7: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 (10:00am, Frost)
Game 8: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 (12:15pm, Frost)
Game 9 : Loser of Game 7 vs. Loser of Game 6 (12:15pm, Hargraves)
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 5 (2:30pm, Hargraves)
Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 (2:30pm, Frost)
Game 12: Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 9 (4:45pm, Frost)
Saturday, May 10
Game 13: Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12 (10:00am, Frost)
Game 14: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 13 (12:15pm, Frost)
Game 15 (if necessary): Winner of Game 14 vs. Loser of Game 14, if first loss (2:30pm, Frost)