Monday, May 09, 2011

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Softball Championship opens up on Wednesday, May 11th at Cyrill Stadium on the campus of USC Upstate where Lipscomb will try to defend its 2010 title and top-seeded Jacksonville enters with a chance to win its first A-Sun Championship. The hosting Spartans finished as the runner-up in last year’s event and will be looking to capture their first crown in the 26th edition of the Championship.

The Dolphins finished the regular season with an 18-2 record in conference play to clinch the No. 1 seed in the A-Sun Championship. The pitching duo of Sarah Sigrest and Olivia Kline claimed decisions in 38 of Jacksonville’s 40 wins, a program record, while posting respective ERAs of 1.01 and 1.50. This season marks the first time that Jacksonville has earned the top seed in their three appearances in the tournament.

Lipscomb earned the second bye in the tournament by posting a 15-5 mark in conference play and a 28-18 record overall. Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Whitney Kiihnl led the Lady Bisons’ charge with a 1.58 ERA and a 19-9 record. The Lady Bisons make an appearance in the conference championship for the fifth-straight season and sixth overall.

The hosting Spartans bolted out of the gates with wins in their first 25 contests before capping the season with a 41-11 record and 13-7 in league games. The 41 wins tied last year’s team that set the program record. USC Upstate owns a 24-5 mark at Cyrill Stadium. Senior Morgan Childers earned 28 wins for the Spartans to lead the conference and along the way broke the A-Sun record for wins in a career.

Campbell picked up the four seed in the tournament with an 11-9 conference record and featured three batters averaging over .300; Amanda Miller (.338), Keeli Michael (.307) and Katie Hinton (.302). The Camels captured the championship title in 2008 and 2009 and is make their sixth-straight appearance in the A-Sun Championship.

Mercer (10-10, A-Sun) earned the five seed after missing out on the tournament last season for the first time in four years. Hurlers Kari Chambers and Jenni Holtz aided the Bears return with a combined 314 strikeouts and a team ERA of 2.19. The bats of Sara Stukes, Anna Johnson and McKenzie Woody lead the Bears’ line-up in batting average with all three over .320.

The Owls of Kennesaw State travel to Spartanburg for their second-ever A-Sun Championship after posting a 1-2 record in their inaugural trip last season. Kennesaw State’s Sharon Swanson and Jessica Cross finished the season one-two in the A-Sun for home runs with 14 and 13, respectively.

The entire A-Sun Softball Championship will be broadcasted for free on ASun.TV and championship coverage can be found on the conference site: www.atlanticsun.org.