Pacers to Play in NCAA Tournament for First Time in Program History

AIKEN, S.C. – Head Coach Jerry Snyder has long dreamed of taking the USC Aiken softball team to the NCAA Division II Tournament and late Sunday evening his dreams were realized.

In his 22nd season at the helm, Snyder, who has coached the Pacers to a record of 529-526 in his 22 years at the helm, has the 2009 Pacers in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in school history.

Snyder and the Pacers were one of 64 teams chosen to the 2009 NCAA Division II Softball Regional Championships by the NCAA Division II Softball Committee on Sunday evening.

Four teams will participate at 16 regional sites in double-elimination tournaments. The regionals will be contested May 8-10 with the winner advancing to play in a super regional which will be contested May 15-16 at campus sites that will be determined by the remaining teams from the upcoming regional.

The 29th Annual Division II Softball World Series will take place May 21-25 at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va.

The Pacers are the second seed in the Southeast region and will play in the Lenoir-Rhyne portion of the Southeast Region bracket in Hickory, N.C. USC Aiken will be joined by host Lenoir-Rhyne, Carson-Newman and Georgia College & State in their four-team portion of the bracket.

USC Aiken will take on seventh-seed Carson-Newman (25-15) in the first round of the Southeast Region on Friday, May 8 at a time yet to be determined. The Eagles were automatic qualifiers to the tournament after recently earning their second straight South Atlantic Conference Tournament crown.

Lenoir-Rhyne (36-11) will take on Georgia College (31-22) in the second game of the L-R Regional.

It has been an incredibly special year for the Pacers with Snyder earning his 500th career win earlier in the 2009 campaign. The win was just a sign of things to come for the Pacers as they continued to embark on one of the greatest seasons in school history.

Since splitting with UNC Pembroke on Feb. 15 to claim that special 500th victory, USC Aiken has gone on to earn its first ever national ranking en route to its first ever NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.

The second game win over UNCP led to a season-high eight-game winning streak and the stretch helped USC Aiken to claim a victory in 12 of its next 13 games to stand at 18-7 after a 4-0 win over Tusculum on March 8.

The Pacers would go 13-5 the rest of the regular season to earn the second spot in the Southeast region by the start of the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Tournament in Florence, S.C.

USC Aiken is currently ranked a program-best 14th and the Pacers enter the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 34-14 record. The Pacers have now been ranked four straight weeks, entering the poll for the first time in school history at No. 24 on April 8.

The sixth Snyder team to claim 30 or more victories in a single season, the 2009 Pacers advanced to the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Game before falling to second-ranked North Georgia. The Saints were also the PBC regular season champions with their lone league regular season loss coming at the hands of the Pacers on Mar. 17. The Pacers split the two-game regular season series between the two by taking the second game, 4-0.

The Pacers will begin their maiden voyage into the NCAA Division II Tournament owning the best winning percentage in school history. They are only three games away from tying the school record for most wins in a single season.

SITES:
*Host Institution

Atlantic Region
1. Lock Haven* 40-6
2. Kutztown* 42-9-1
3. Bloomsburg 33-9
4. California (Pennsylvania) 33-8
5. Shippensburg 22-17
6. West Virginia Wesleyan 40-13
7. West Chester 28-18
8. Bowie State 26-6

Central Region
1. Winona State* 41-11
2. Metropolitan State* 40-10
3. Colorado School of Mines 37-16
4. Wayne State (Nebraska) 39-19
5. Minnesota State Mankato 37-15
6. Colorado State-Pueblo 29-18
7. Mesa State 27-19
8. Southwest Minnesota State 31-21

East Region
1. Le Moyne* 40-10
2. C.W. Post* 33-16
3. Georgian Court 36-14
4. Caldwell 35-16-2
5. Dowling 33-18
6. Southern Connecticut State 33-14
7. New Haven 32-16
8. Dominican (New York) 39-14

Midwest Region
1. Ashland* 34-12
2. Saginaw Valley State* 32-9
3. Ferris State 31-8
4. Wayne State (Michigan) 36-14
5. Indianapolis 30-17
6. Northern Kentucky 29-21
7. Lewis 31-18
8. Missouri-St. Louis 29-17

South Region
1. Alabama-Huntsville* 43-5
2. Valdosta State* 49-6
3. Florida Southern 37-12
4. Rollins 45-8
5. West Florida 33-14
6. Nova Southeastern 43-13
7. Tampa 27-12
8. Miles 24-14

South Central Region
1. Angelo State* 43-8
2. Southeastern Oklahoma* 50-10
3. Abilene Christian 42-13
4. Emporia State 42-14
5. Nebraska-Omaha 42-15
6. Missouri Western State 45-10
7. Central Missouri 34-12
8. St. Edward’s 41-19

Southeast Region
1. North Georgia* 43-3
2. USC Aiken 34-14
3. Lenoir-Rhyne* 36-11
4. Augusta State 31-19
5. Wingate 33-14-1
6. Georgia College 31-22
7. Carson-Newman 27-15
8. Queens (North Carolina) 26-22

West Region
1. Humboldt State* 34-17
2. Hawaii Pacific 35-9
3. Dixie State* 30-9
4. Cal State Stanislaus 29-18
5. Montana State-Billings 39-15
6. Cal State Monterey Bay 36-25-1
7. UC San Diego 29-21
8. Sonoma State 31-23