The Florida A&M Lady Rattler Softball Team begins its quest for the 2006 NCAA Division I Softball Championships Friday against Georgia Tech in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama Regional at the University of Alabama. The game will begin at 4:00 p.m. Central Time.FAMU (39-23), winners of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, will tangle with Atlantic Coast Conference foe Georgia Tech (46-20) in the early game, while host and #5 national seed Alabama (49-9) of the Southeastern Conference, will take on Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion Mississippi Valley State (23-28), at 6:30 p.m.
"I'm very excited about this opportunity," FAMU coach Veronica Wiggins said, just moments after the pairings were announced Sunday. "It really didn't matter who we ended up with, we're just ready to go and play."
The NCAA Tournament features 16 four-team regional championships, which begin play Friday, May 19 running through Sunday, May 21.
The winners of the 16 regional bouts will pair off in eight (8) best two-of-three Super Regional matchups, May 26-28, with the eight winners advancing to the College Wod Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the first weekend in June.
The winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional will vie with the winner of the Fresno (Calif.) Regional, which features #12 seeded Stanford (38-15).
This will be Florida A&M's third regional trip since 1999 and their second straight regional invite. They took part in the Auburn Regional last season and earned a trip to the West Regional at Fresno (Calif.) State in 1999.