Softball Earns First-Ever Bid To NCAA Tournament
5/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 13, 2001
INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- The Seton Hall softball team, the runner-up in the 2001 BIG EAST Championship, has been selected to participate in the 2001 NCAA Division I Women's Softball Tournament, for the first time in school history. The Pirates, with a 29-14 record, will be the No. 5 seed in the six-team regional at Norman, OK, on May 17-20. Seton Hall will open play facing second-seeded Washington (37-21-1) at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, May 17.
Host team Oklahoma (45-7) earned the region's top seed with North Carolina (37-17-1) at No. 3. Massachusetts (43-11) is the fourth seed while Lehigh (38-13) rounds out the regional as the sixth seed. The regional is a a double-elimination tournament, with the winners advancing to the Women's College World Series May 24-28 at Oklahoma City, OK.
Seton Hall is coming off a strong showing at the 2001 BIG EAST Championship at Villanova on May 10-12. The Pirates entered the weekend as the No. 4 seed and upset top-seeded and 8th-ranked Notre Dame, ending the Fighting Irish's 33-game winning streak. The Pirates advanced to the championship game for the second time in three years by defeating second-seeded Villanova before bowing to Connecticut in the final, 3-0, on May 12.
Head Coach Ray Vander May has guided Seton Hall to a 133-91-1 record in his five years, including three straight winning seasons. The Pirates are led by senior righthander Misty Beaver (Machesney Park, IL), who owns a 15-6 record with 182 strikeouts, and senior leftfielder Marlena Kotynski (Lyndhurst, NJ), who tops the squad with a .371 batting average. Both players earned All-BIG EAST 2nd Team honors.
Seton Hall is one of three teams representing the BIG EAST in the tournament. Notre Dame earned the No. 1 seed at the Iowa City, IA, regional and Connecticut is the No. 5 seed at the Tallahassee, FL, regional.
Fans can follow the action of the regional via the University of Oklahoma's athletic website at www.soonersports.com. Tickets for the regional are available by calling the Oklahoma Athletic Ticket Office at 800-456-4668.
