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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Softball Headed to Lincoln Regional
5/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 16, 2004
BOCA RATON, FL - The Florida Atlantic University softball team learned Sunday night it will be heading to Lincoln, NE, to play in one of eight regionals as the 2004 NCAA Tournament gets underway this Thursday. It marks the sixth straight season the Owls have earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. FAU is one of 27 teams that received an automatic bid after capturing its eighth straight A-Sun Championship Saturday. The remaining 37 teams of the field of 64 are at-large selections.
The regional will be hosted by the University of Nebraska. California is the no. 1 seed. The other teams are Nebraska, Iowa, Mississippi State, Creighton, Lehigh, and Maine. FAU will face Creighton in Thursday's opening round at 11:00am EDT. Cal takes on Maine. Nebraska faces Lehigh, and Iowa takes on Mississippi State.
"I think it's anyone's regional," said FAU head coach Joan Joyce. "We played Cal already this year so we know what they're all about. It's just tough to predict who will win any regional anymore because there is so much more parity in softball today."
The Owls are led by Candice Freel, who owns a 27-8 record and a 0.60 ERA. She threw three consecutive shutouts at the A-Sun Championship on her way to being named tournament MVP. At the plate, Pam Mazzarella has a team-best .357 average.
Regional play, which is a double-elimination format, runs May 20-23. The winners of the eight regionals advance to the College World Series, May 27-31, in Oklahoma City.
FAU is 7-10 in its previous five regionals. Most recently, FAU was a no. 5 seed at the Gainesville Regional in 2003 where it advanced to the third day of play. The Owls are seeking their first WCWS appearance.
The match-up with Creighton is just the second all-time between the schools. The Owls played the Bluejays in 1995, FAU's first season. California is the only team FAU faced this season, a 4-1 loss at the NFCA Leadoff Classic February 27 in Columbus, GA. Cal is ranked no. 2 in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 and no. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25. Nebraska is 14th and 15th, respectively, while FAU is receiving votes in each poll in the no. 26 spot.
Florida Atlantic is the only A-Sun team represented in the field.
Lincoln Regional Schedule (May 20, All Times Eastern)
11:00am, #3 FAU (54-16) vs #6 Creighton (41-15-1)
1:30pm, #2 Nebraska (42-15) vs #7 Lehigh (40-15-2)
4:00pm, #4 Mississippi State (38-24) vs #5 Iowa (38-22)
6:30pm, #1 California (46-11) vs #8 Maine (28-21)
9:00pm, Loser FAU/Creighton vs Loser Nebraska/Lehigh
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