May 11, 2003

Columbia, S.C. –
The 2003 NCAA Softball Tournament field was announced Sunday evening and the 19th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (38-18) will play the Princeton Tigers (24-19) in Tucson, Ariz. May 15. The tournament is May 15-18 and Carolina’s game time is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (MT) at Hillenbrand Stadium. This marks Carolina’s fifth consecutive, 13th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks have advanced to the tournament nine of the last ten years. Carolina’s last appearance in the Women’s College World Series was in 1997.

Top ranked Arizona is the No. 1 seed while USC earned the No. 2 seed in the regional. The rest of Region 1 is as follows: No. 3 seed Texas A&M, No. 4 seed Minnesota, No. 5 seed Cal State-Northridge, No. 6 seed Boston College, No. 7 seed Princeton and No. 8 seed Colorado State.

The Tigers claimed the Ivy League title and earned an automatic bid to the tournament. This marks the second consecutive year that Princeton has advanced to the tournament.

A total of six Southeastern Conference schools made it to the to tournament. In addition to South Carolina, Alabama, LSU, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi State all received bids. Alabama was the only SEC school to earn a No. 1 seed.

The Gamecocks, who received and at-large bid to the tournament, went 1-2 at the SEC Tournament as they defeated Mississippi State but fell to Florida and LSU. In SEC play, Carolina finished second in the eastern division, fourth overall and posted an 18-10 record.