May 16, 2004

COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the sixth year in a row, the South Carolina softball team received a bid to the NCAA Tournament as the NCAA Division I softball committee announced Sunday. The Gamecocks are in the No. 1 Regional at Tucson, Ariz. and are the No. 4 seed in the bracket. USC (27-22) will play the No. 5 seed Louisiana-Lafayette (55-6) on Thursday, May 20 at 5 p.m. (EDT) at Hillenbrand Stadium on the University of Arizona campus. This marks the 14th NCAA appearance for USC and the 12th under head coach Joyce Compton.

The top-ranked Arizona Wildcats are the hosts of the tournament with a 53-4 record. No. 21 Oklahoma, Northwestern, No. 9 La.-Lafayette, UC Santa Barbara, Temple and Centenary round out the bracket. This marks the second consecutive year that USC will play in Tucson. This also marks the third straight year that the Gamecocks will have the top-ranked team in their regional.

The Gamecocks are coming off of a two-game losing streak after going 0-2 at the SEC Tournament this past weekend and hope to snap their streak. The Gamecocks need three victories to reach the 30-win mark. This is the first team under Coach Compton to reach the NCAA Tournament with less then 30 wins.

The NCAA Tournament is double-elimination and the winner of the USC vs. La.-Lafayette game will play the winner of the Arizona vs. Centenary game on Friday, May 21 at 4 p.m. (EDT), while the losers will play in the elimination game Friday, May 21 at 11 a.m. (EDT).

For more information on the NCAA Tournament and the other brackets, visit www.ncaasports.com.

Region No. 1 – Thursday-Saturday, May 20-23 at Tucson, Ariz.
No. 1 seed Arizona (53-4)
No. 2 seed Oklahoma (39-19-1)
No. 3 seed Northwestern (32-18)
No. 4 seed South Carolina (27-22)
No. 5 seed Louisiana-Lafayette (55-6)
No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara (32-29)
No. 7 seed Temple (29-16)
No. 8 seed Centenary (35-28)

Schedule of Games
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Game 1 – 11 a.m. (EDT) – No. 3 Northwestern vs. No. 6 UC-Santa Barbara
Game 2 – 1:30 p.m. (EDT) – No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Temple
Game 3 – 4 p.m. (EDT) – No. 4 South Carolina vs. No. 5 La.-Lafayette
Game 4 – 6:30 p.m. (EDT) – No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 8 Centenary
Game 5 – 9 p.m. (EDT) – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Friday, May 21, 2004
Game 6 – 11 a.m. (EDT) – Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 7 – 1:30 p.m. (EDT) – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 8 – 4 p.m. (EDT) – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 9 – 6:30 p.m. (EDT) – Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 10 – 9 p.m. (EDT) – Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6

Game No. 11 Saturday, May 22 – 2:30 p.m. (EDT)
Game No. 12 Saturday, May 22 – 5 p.m. (EDT)
Game No. 13 Saturday, May 22 – 8 p.m. (EDT)
Game No. 14 Sunday, May 23 – 4 p.m. (EDT)
Game No. 15 Sunday, May 23 – 6:30 p.m. (EDT)