Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls Look For Ninth Straight A-Sun Title
5/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 11, 2005
For the second straight season, Florida Atlantic University will serve as host to the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The Owls, who have won an unprecedented eight straight A-Sun Tournaments, will look to add to that mark when they face Stetson Thursday at 1:00pm in a first-round game. FAU is among six teams in the championship field. Troy is the top seed, followed by FAU, Lipscomb, UCF, Stetson, and Jacksonville. Complete tournament coverage can be found on www.fausports.com. Tickets are available at FAU Field.
Three-day tournament passes for the event are only $20 for adults and $10 for youths and seniors, while one day passes are $10 for adults and $5 for youths and seniors on Thursday and Friday and only $5 for adults and $3 for youths and seniors on championship Saturday.
Click here for the championship page featuring live stats for all games.
No. 2 Seed - Florida Atlantic Owls (35-30, 14-6 A-Sun)
They may have had a roller-coaster campaign, but no-one will want to face the Owls have always been a formidable foe at home in the A-Sun Championship. FAU is 16-1 when hosting the tournament and 137-39 all-time at home against Atlantic Sun competition. Senior Pam Mazzarella earned herself a fourth consecutive All-Conference first team honor, while sophomore pitchers Meghan Doonan and Ashley Greene have showed they belong among the top hurlers in the conference. Senior Jessica Braggins is coming off the best regular season of her career and junior Danielle Arriaga is a constant threat with both her bat and her defensive ability at shortstop. Both were named second team All-Conference earlier this week.
No. 1 Seed - Troy Trojans (44-19, 17-3 A-Sun)
Led by A-Sun Coach-of-the-Year Melanie Davis, the Trojans ran rampant through the A-Sun before sweeping Florida State and splitting with No. 17 Georgia Tech in recent weeks. Reigning A-Sun Pitcher-of-the-Year, sophomore Jocelyn McCallum, and two-time All-Conference first team catcher, senior Tamra Howren, are sure-fire stars in the conference and would be a nightmare 1-2 punch for any team in the country to face. Troy has proven doubters wrong, especially the pollsters who picked them to finish fourth in the A-Sun this season, and is perhaps just the slim favorites to pick up their first conference title before they leave the building.
No. 3 Seed - Lipscomb Lady Bisons (27-22, 13-7 A-Sun)
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons are a legitimate threat to win the A-Sun title under interim head coach Cheryl Smith, who is also an assistant women's basketball coach at the school. Freshmen Heather Collins and Leigh Little are the offensive leaders of the squad, while senior Danielle Catalano and junior Sara Meek provide solid starting pitching for the Bisons. Lipscomb is also coming off a win over no. 11 Alabama.
No. 4 Seed - UCF Golden Knights (41-26-1, 13-7 A-Sun)
Just like Troy, UCF is looking to exit the A-Sun with a bang by taking its first conference title. Senior shortstop Stephanie Best, the nation's home run leader (23) and three-time defending A-Sun Player-of-the-Year, is one of the best hitters in conference history. Fellow senior Lindsay Enders, a first team All-Conference selection, finished the regular season with a 21-12 record and a superb 1.58 ERA.
No. 5 Seed - Stetson (35-18, 13-7 A-Sun) The Hatters are the only other school apart from FAU in this year's tournament to have won an A-Sun title, and this year's squad has the offensive weapons and stellar pitching to make a run at its first championship since its three-peat in 1986-88. The conference's best hitting team by almost 20 points, Stetson also has the top three hitters for average in the form of juniors Melissa Wiggins (.440) , Shawna Wiggs (.400), and senior Brittani Houghton (.398). All three were named first team All-Conference for their outstanding seasons. Pitching-wise, the Hatters finished second in team ERA in the A-Sun and have three quality arms in Houghton, junior Jennifer Buckley and sophomore Heather Colding. With their top-to-bottom talent, it would not be that much of a surprise if this team in green ends up with the gold.
No. 6 Seed - Jacksonville Dolphins (34-30, 9-11 A-Sun)
The Dolphins make their inaugural appearance in the championship and are the overwhelming underdog amongst the six teams competing this year after going 2-8 against them in the regular season. The pitching staff, led by A-Sun Freshman-of-the-Year Shannon Jensen, had a respectable 2.18 ERA during the regular season but that number rose to 2.52 in their 20 A-Sun games. Similarly, the Dolphins offense also struggled in conference play, hitting only .216, the fourth-worst in the league. Senior Lauren Redfern, with her .393 average, eight homers and 39 RBI, was a bright spot with the bat for JU and earned herself first team All-Conference honors with those numbers.
Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 12
Game 1 - #1 Troy vs. #6 Jacksonville, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - #2 FAU vs. #5 Stetson, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 - #3 Lipscomb vs. #4 UCF, 9:00 a.m.
Game 4 - Loser G1 vs. Loser G2, 4:00 p.m.
Game 5 - Winner G1 vs. Loser G3, 6:00 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner G2 vs. Winner G3, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 13
Game 7 - 3:00 p.m.
Game 8 - 5:00 p.m.
Game 9 - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 14
Game 10 - 12:00 p.m. (Championship Game)
Game 11 - if necessary, approx. 20 minutes after Game 10
NOTE: Winner earns the A-Sun's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.