May 1, 2003

BOCA RATON, FL - For the fifth straight year, the Florida Atlantic University softball team is the top seed at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. The six-team, double-elimination tournament gets underway May 8 in Troy, AL, and runs through May 10. The winner receives the A-Sun's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

FAU has won an A-Sun record six consecutive A-Sun Tournament titles and has played in the last four NCAA Tournaments.

The Lady Owls will face no. 6 Jacksonville State in the opening round on May 8 at Noon EDT. If FAU wins, it will play later in the day at 6:00pm EDT. FAU concluded its regular season with a pair of one-run, extra innings games against the Gamecocks at FAU Field. FAU enters the tournament having won five straight and 11 of 12 overall.

The rest of the field is comprised of no. 2 Troy State, no. 3 Stetson, no. 4 Central Florida, and no. 5 Mercer. FAU finished the regular season 37-25 overall and 18-4 in the A-Sun. The Lady Owls went a combined 7-3 against the tournament field.

Live audio will be available for each FAU game at the tournament on www.fausports.com. Live stats can also be accessed via the site. Fans are encouraged to click on the live audio link well in advance of the first game to configure their computers and subscribe to the service. The procedure for listening to FAU softball games on www.fausports.com has changed since last year.

For ticket information, please call 1-(877)-TSU-WINS.

A-Sun Tournament Schedule (all times eastern)

Thursday, May 8
10:00am (Game 3), No. 3 Stetson vs No. 4 UCF
Noon (Game 1), No. 1 FAU vs No. 6 JSU
2:00pm (Game 2) , No. 2 TSU vs No. 5 Mercer
4:00pm (Game 4), Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
6:00pm (Game 5), Winner Game 1 vs Loser Game 3
8:00pm (Game 6), Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 3

Friday, May 9
2:00pm (Game 7), Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 6
4:00pm (Game 8), Winner Game 4 vs Loser Game 6
6:00pm (Game 9), Winner Game 8 vs Loser Game 7

Saturday, May 10
2:00pm (Game 10), Championship Game
4:00pm (Game 11), Championship Game Re-Match (if necessary)