Thursday, February 10, 2011

MACON, Ga. – The 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference softball season gets under way this weekend as all 11 teams are set for first pitch in the next five days. Seven squads kick off tomorrow – all of which participating in non-conference tournaments – including defending A-Sun Champions, Lipscomb, in the UGA Tournament, where they face the No. 3 Bulldogs on Sunday.

Mercer, Kennesaw State and Belmont start their seasons on Sunday with ETSU the last conference team to begin their season traveling to No. 4 Tennessee on Tuesday. Belmont, Campbell, Jacksonville and Stetson open the season by hosting tournaments in their season openers and welcome such teams as No. 4 Tennessee, No. 25 North Carolina, Virginia and Boston College. In total, A-Sun teams will compete in six games against ranked opponents.

The Lady Bisons enter the season with three unanimous preseason all-conference players in Whitney Kiihnl, Mollie Mitchell and Courtney Billington and as the preseason favorites to claim their second straight regular-season title after recording a 50-13 mark last season and a 18-2 conference record. Kiihnl, the Preseason Pitcher of the Year, returns her 33 wins as well as her 0.93 ERA for Lipscomb.

USC Upstate, the preseason No. 2 team, and unanimous preseason all-conference pitcher, Morgan Childers start the season at the Palmetto State Showdown with games slated against Coastal Carolina, Winthrop, Charleston Southern and host-school South Carolina. Childers earned 34 wins last season for the Spartans and posted a 1.01 ERA.

Kennesaw State and Preseason Player of the Year, Jessica Cross, participate in the Southern Miss Tournament, where the Owls face both Central Arkansas and Southern Miss twice in a two-day span. The dual-threat, Cross, totaled 15 wins and 12 home runs for the Owls, both of which led the team.

UNF and FGCU both stay in the state of Florida as they partake in the Combat Classic in Miami and the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament in Tampa.

USC Upstate hosts the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Softball Championship at Cyrill Stadium from May 12th-14th.

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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.