Wednesday, May 12, 2010

MACON, Ga. – The 2010 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship opens Thursday, May 13 at Patricia Wilson Field on the campus of Stetson University with a 9 a.m. contest between No. 3 Kennesaw State and No. 4 USC Upstate.

Top-seeded Lipscomb gets underway with an 11 a.m. matchup with the two-time defending champion Campbell Camels, the Championship’s sixth seed while a contest between No. 2 Stetson and No. 5 Jacksonville at 1 p.m. will conclude the opening round of the championship. Second-round and consolation games will begin at 4 p.m. with an elimination game between the losers of Lipscomb-Campbell and Stetson-Jacksonville.

Lipscomb enters the championship as the top seed after claiming the regular season title with an 18-2 record. Stetson will host for the third consecutive season, while Kennesaw State and USC Upstate enter Division I postseason play for the first time. Campbell looks to take its third consecutive postseason championship crown, while Jacksonville looks to continue to defy preseason expectations.

The championship, a double-elimination tournament, concludes with the title game scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Should an if-necessary game be needed, it would follow 30 minutes after. The 2010 campaign marks the third consecutive season in which the home of the Hatters will host more games than any other NCAA Division I facility, including its fourth consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.

LIPSCOMB CAPS OFF RECORD SETTING SEASON IN DeLAND
Lipscomb enters the 2010 Atlantic Sun Championship with a spectacular 44-10 overall record and clinched the regular season title with an 18-2 tally in league play. The Lady Bisons garnered national recognition as a top softball program, as the squad received votes for several top-25 polls during the regular season, ranking as high as 25th in the Ultimate College Softball Top 25. As a team, Lipscomb also ranks second in ERA (1.31) in the nation as of May 12. Sophomore Whitney Kiihnl doubled up on the postseason awards, becoming the first in A-Sun history to capture both the Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors. During the regular season, she earned A-Sun Player of the Week honors on five occasions and threw five no-hitters and one perfect game. Kiihnl ranks second in the nation in ERA (0.71), first in hits allowed per seven innings (2.01), while placing ninth in shutouts (11) and 17th in strikeouts with 281. Amongst the A-Sun, the Batesville, Miss. native ranks first overall in ERA and opposing batting average (.089), second in wins (28), third in strikeouts and fourth in hitting (.361).

STETSON HOSTS FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Stetson finished the regular season with a 32-19 overall record and 14-6 mark in league play to claim the second seed. Head coach Frank Griffin will pin his team’s title hopes on top pitcher Amanda Lindsey. Lindsey ranks seventh in the nation in ERA (1.03), 25th in wins with 23 and 32nd in strikeouts (243), as her efforts help Stetson rank sixth in the nation in team ERA (1.51). The Byhalia, Miss. native’s 243 strikeouts rank second in school history only to her own 2008 total of 277. Lindsey tossed a no-hitter and a perfect game this season and earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors on three occasions. Not since Stetson claimed the 2007 A-Sun Championship at Patricia Wilson Field has the host celebrated a title on its home floor.

OWLS CLAW FOR FIRST A-SUN BERTH
After completing four-year transitions to Division I, two A-Sun schools in Kennesaw State and USC Upstate have the opportunity to experience the A-Sun Softball Championship for the first time. Both made the competitive field of six and now sit three days away from their first NCAA tournament. This season, under head coach Scott Whitlock, Kennesaw State finished the regular season with an overall record of 26-24 and 11-9 tally in conference play to secure the No. 3 seed. For the Owls, junior Jessica Cross excelled both at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle, heading into postseason play ranking third in the league in home runs (11) and in RBIs (35), while sporting a 1.89 earned run average (eighth in the A-Sun) and posting a 13-10 record, that includes 15 complete games and two shutouts. Ashlee Burkett stands also stands as a force at the plate for Kennesaw State as she completed the final week of the regular season with a .342 batting average, which ties for ninth in the conference, ranks fifth with a .584 slugging percentage, ties for eighth in hits (55) and ties for fourth in RBIs with 34. The Warner Robins, Ga. native earned Freshman of the Year honors after picking up a pair of A-Sun Player of the Week accolades during regular-season play.

CHILDERS LEADS SPARTANS CHARGE INTO POSTSEASON
USC Upstate also earned a first-ever Championship berth, as the Spartans claimed the No. 4 position after finishing the regular season at 38-13 and 11-9 in A-Sun play. As a team, the Spartans rank second in the nation with a 0.98 fielding percentage as of May 12. Morgan Childers leads USC Upstate from the circle, as the junior ranks fourth in hits allowed per seven innings with 3.0, third in strikeouts (405), third in shutouts with 16, fifth with a 0.94 ERA, fifth in wins (31) and seventh in strikeouts per seven innings with 11.5. Childers tossed two no-hitters this season and earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors on three occasions. The Kings Mountain, N.C. native earned College Sports Information District of America (CoSIDA) and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors and etched her name into the A-Sun record book, moving into second all-time in strikeouts with 940. Entering the A-Sun Softball Championship, Childers owns the second-highest single-season strikeout total in A-Sun history at 405. With 33 strikeouts, she would surpass Nicole Myers’ record mark of 437, set while at FAU in 2002.

JACKSONVILLE CLINCHES FIVE SEED
Jacksonville comes into the 2010 Atlantic Sun Championship as the No. 5 seed with an overall record of 32-21 and even A-Sun tally of 10-10. The Dolphins qualified for the six-team tournament after one of the preseason polls pegged the Dolphins for 10th. Ashley Iveson will pace the Dolphins’ charge from inside the circle as the senior leads the squad in strikeouts (175), wins (16) and innings pitched (152). Iveson’s 16 wins and six double-digit strikeout games stand as personal single-season records. The Kissimmee, Fla. native has allowed only four earned runs in the last 40.2 innings of work, a streak which started on April 10 and continues into postseason play. Iveson also has recorded eight shutouts. From the plate, Kayla Ouellet paces the Dolphins after missing the 2009 season with a knee injury. Ouellet owns a team-best 61 hits, 31 runs and 16 stolen bases.

CAMPBELL CLINCHES SIXTH SEED
Campbell will look to make its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament as the two-time Atlantic Sun Conference champion Fighting Camels earned the No. 6 seed after tallying a 23-29 overall record and even 10-10 mark in league play. Last season in DeLand, Fla., Campbell defeated Mercer, 1-0, in the first championship-deciding game decided by a single run since 2004. As a team, the Camels rank fifth in the nation in double plays per game with 0.47 as of May 12. Senior hurler Brittany Stanley leads the squad from the circle in wins (11), appearances (28), games started (24), complete games (9), shutouts (5), innings pitched (135) and strikeouts (92). The West Lafayette, Ind. native has also dominated at the last two A-Sun Championships, winning consecutive Tournament MVP honors. In the two years, Stanley has pitched all 62 of Campbell’s innings and boasts an 8-0 record with 49 strikeouts and a 1.58 ERA.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.