GOLDEN SUNS TO FACE NORTH ALABAMA IN THE FIRST ROUND
OF THIS COMING WEEKEND'S GSC TOURNAMENT

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – One day after splitting a doubleheader at home with Henderson State to win its first-ever Gulf South Conference West Division Softball title, the Golden Suns learned their opponent and game time for its first-ever game at the 2008 GSC Tournament at the Greenbrook Softball Complex in Southaven, Miss.

Tech, who is the No. 1 seed from the GSC West Division and enters the GSC Tournament sporting a 38-15 overall record, will open the tournament at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, May 2 against North Alabama, the No. 4 seed out of the GSC East Division. The Lady Lions enter the GSC Tournament sporting a 26-19 overall record and finished with a 14-10 mark in the East Division.

If Tech wins its first-round game, it will face the winner of the Valdosta State/Delta State game in a winners bracket game at 5 p.m. on Friday and if it loses its first-round game, it will meet the loser of the VSU/DSU game at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in the consolation bracket. The GSC Tournament is a double-elimination format and the winner of the tournament receives the GSC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament.

Friday’s match-up with North Alabama will mark the third meeting this season between the two teams as Tech collected a 4-3 win over the Lady Lions on Feb. 29 at the UAM/Super 8 Motel Tournament in Monticello, Ark., and UNA earned a 2-0 victory over Tech in the team’s most recent meeting at the GSC Crossover Tournament in Decatur, Ala., on April 13.

“We are excited about traveling to Southaven next weekend and playing in the GSC Tournament,” Golden Suns Head Coach Gidget Pambianchi said. “This is an exciting time for our players, our program and our school and I’m glad to be able to be a part of it.”

Since joining the league in 2003, Tech is 1-6 all-time against UNA, with the only win coming this season. Last season, UNA went 2-0 against Tech and posted wins over the Golden Suns in 2004, 2005 and 2006 at the GSC Crossover Tournament.

In addition to Tech’s game with North Alabama, other the first-round contest on Tech’s half of the bracket is Valdosta State (45-14, 17-6 GSC), the No. 2 seed from the East Division facing Delta State (33-24, 18-10 GSC), the No. 3 seed from the West Division at 9:30 a.m. The bottom-half of the bracket has No. 2 ranked and GSC East Division champion Alabama-Huntsville (45-7, 16-5 GSC) facing Arkansas-Monticello (22-29, 15-14 GSC), the No. 4 seed from the West Division at 12 p.m. and Henderson State (39-16, 19-10 GSC), the No. 2 seed from the West Division playing 25th-ranked West Florida (38-19, 18-8 GSC), the No. 3 seed from the East Division at 2:30 p.m.

On the season, Tech is 11-10 against the teams that qualified for this year’s GSC Tournament, including going 7-5 against the three other West Division squads. Here is Tech’s record against this season’s GSC Tournament field – Arkansas-Monticello (3-1), West Florida (2-1), Delta State (2-2), Henderson State (2-2), Valdosta State (1-1), North Alabama (1-1) and Alabama-Huntsville (0-2).

Tech enters the tournament with a team batting average of .294 and has scored five or more runs in 14 games and is 10-4 on the year when its scores at least five runs. Junior rightfielder Sarah Pratt (Garland, Texas) leads Tech’s offense with a .368 batting average and also leads the team in hits (68), runs scored (39), triples (4) and is tied for the team lead with 16 stolen bases, while freshman first baseman Tiphani Moon (Euless, Texas) leads the team in doubles (14) and RBIs (37) and is tied for the team lead with five home runs.

Meanwhile, the biggest strength of Tech’s team is its pitching as the Golden Suns have a team ERA of 1.86 as they have allowed just 96 earned runs in 360.1 innings pitched. Junior Casey Hammons (Carthage, Texas) has a team-best 1.81 ERA and has a 14-7 record, while senior Dana Aldrich (Palm Harbor, Fla.) has a 23-8 record and a 1.86 ERA and leads the team with 186 strikeouts and has tossed 18 complete games, five shutouts and has thrown two perfect games.

For the second consecutive season, all of the games at this year’s GSC Softball Tournament will have live broadband video streaming through an agreement between the GSC and Penn Atlantic. The broadband broadcasts will be available for a per game fee at www.pennatlantic.com or you log on to www.gulfsouthconference.org for more information about the tournament and the broadband broadcasts.

2008 GSC Softball Tournament bracket              
         
                                                       -- Tech Athletics --