Three Conference USA teams open NCAA Tournament play this weekend at various regional sites across the country. The C-USA tournament champion DePaul Blue Demons travel to Madison, Wis., to play Wisconsin in opening round action on Friday. Regular season champion Louisville opens play in South Bend, Ind., against the regional-host Fighting Irish. USF, who earned its third-consecutive at-large bid, plays future C-USA member UCF also on Friday.

2005 CONFERENCE USA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Infielders
Saskia Roberson, DePaul
Courtney Moore, Louisville
Audrey Rendon, Louisville
Christie Chapman, USF
Outfielders
Dana Kenney, DePaul
Sara Bausher, Louisville
Brandi Clark, Houston
Catcher
Jenn Skaggs, Louisville
Utility Player
Kate Sheaks, DePaul
Pitcher
Bree Spence, USF

Tournament MVP
Megan Huitink, DePaul

CONFERENCE USA ANNOUNCES POSTSEASON AWARDS

For the first time in Conference USA history, the league’s Most Valuable Player award for softball will be shared. Houston senior Kristen Glowacz and Louisville sophomore Courtney Moore each received an equal amount of recognition by league coaches to share MVP honors, while Moore’s teammate Aja Sherman was named Pitcher of the Year and East Carolina’s Tracey Kee was named Coach of the Year. USF pitcher Bree Spence was selected as Freshman of the Year.

Moore and Sherman led the Cardinals to their first regular season title and the top seed at the upcoming Conference USA Tournament in Tampa, Fla., which will be played at the USF Softball Complex on May 12-14. The Cardinal duo was joined by teammates Lacy Wood (catcher) and Audrey Rendon (infielder) on the All-Conference USA first team, giving Louisville the most first-team members with four.

First-Team All-Conference USA
C: Lacy Wood, Louisville
IF: Kristen Glowacz, Houston
IF: Kate Manuse, East Carolina
IF: Courtney Moore, Louisville
IF: Audrey Rendon, Louisville
OF: Dana Kenney, DePaul
OF: Kim Nesloney, Houston
OF: Tiffany Stewart, USF
P: Megan Huitink, DePaul
P: Aja Sherman, Louisville
UT: Sandy Vojik, DePaul

Second-Team All-Conference USA
C: Krista Jessup, East Carolina
IF: Ashley Davis, Southern Miss
IF: Carmela Liwag, USF
IF: Mandi Nichols, East Carolina
IF: Saskia Roberson, DePaul
OF: Ashley Parker, DePaul
OF: Samantha Ray, USF
OF: Lindsay Stanley, UAB
P: Keli Harrell, East Carolina
P: Catherine Bishop, Louisville
UT: Jenilee Skender, Houston

Conference USA All-Freshmen Team
Amanda Antonovich, LHP, UAB
Paige Baggett, UT, East Carolina
Allison Bullard, OF, Southern Miss
Laurel Carlson, IF, East Carolina
Jennifer Fox, UT, Southern Miss
Barbie Love, RHP, Houston
Angel Shamblin, RHP, Houston
Bree Spence, RHP, USF
Erin St. Ledger, IF, East Carolina
Sandy Vojik, UT, DePaul
Marcy Wilus, IF, DePaul

Individual Awards
Co-Most Valuable Players: Kristen Glowacz, Houston
Courtney Moore, Louisville
Pitcher of the Year: Aja Sherman, Louisville
Coach of the Year: Tracey Kee, East Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Bree Spence, USF

CONFERENCE USA ANNOUNCES SOFTBALL ALL-DECADE TEAM

Conference USA is celebrating its 10th anniversary during the 2004-05 season. In conjunction, the league is naming a Team of the Decade for each of the conference’s 19 sports. Softball is the latest sport to have its All-Decade team released and the squad is led by former DePaul All-American Lindsay Chouinard, a three-time all-Conference USA first team selection, who was named the Player of the Decade.

The Softball Coach of the Decade award was won by DePaul’s Eugene Lenti, a unanimous selection after leading the Blue Demons to three Conference USA regular season championships and three straight C-USA Tournament titles. Voting on the awards was done by each of the league’s current softball coaches.

DePaul produced four of the 10 members of the Al-Decade team. Southern Miss and USF each had two, while Houston and Louisville both had one player named to the squad.

C-USA SOFTBALL ALL-DECADE TEAM
Lindsay Chouinard, DePaul (2000-2003) – PLAYER OF THE DECADE
Liz Bouck, DePaul (2000-2003)
Sarah Martz, DePaul (2001-2004)
Saskia Roberson, DePaul (2002-2005)
Kristen Glowacz, Houston (2002-present)
Keola Calderon, Louisville (2000– 03)
Courtney Blades, Southern Miss (2000)
Amy Berman, Southern Miss (2000)
Holly Groves, USF (2002-04)
Leigh Ann Ellis, USF (2003-04)

C-USA SOFTBALL COACH OF THE DECADE
Eugene Lenti, DePaul (1983-present)

NATIONAL POLLS

ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll (Week 15 – May 9-May 15)
1. Michigan (20)
2. California
3. Arizona
4. Stanford
5. Texas A&M
5. Texas
7. Oregon State
8. Alabama
9. Georgia
10. Baylor
11. Oklahoma
12. UCLA
13. Tennessee
14. Louisiana-Lafayette
15. Fresno State
16. Missouri
17. Georgia Tech
18. Northwestern
19. Iowa
20. Auburn
21. Washington
22. Southern Illinois
23. DePaul
24. Nebraska
25. BYU
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.

USA TODAY/NFCA Poll (Week 14 – May 2-8)
1. Michigan (22)
2. California (1)
3. Arizona
4. Stanford
5. Texas A&M
6. Oregon State
7. Texas
8. Georgia
9. Alabama
10. Oklahoma
11. Tennessee
12. UCLA
13. Baylor
14. Louisiana-Lafayette
15. Fresno State
16. Missouri
17. Georgia Tech
18. Auburn
19. Northwestern
20. Southern Illinois
21. Washington
22. Iowa
23. Florida
24. Long Beach State
25. Nebraska
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.

LOUISVILLE CLINCHES FIRST C-USA REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Louisville earned the top seed in the upcoming 2005 Conference USA Softball Tournament by finishing off a three-game sweep of No. 25 DePaul with a 4-0 victory on May 8. Senior Aja Sherman’s second shutout of the weekend gave the Cardinals (40-16, 20-4 C-USA) their first regular season title in school history. This year’s tournament will be hosted by the fourth-seeded USF Bulls and played at the USF Softball Complex in Tampa, Fla., on May 12-14.

The Cardinals’ first action of the tournament will be in game four on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., EDT, when U of L takes on the winner of game two, which features the host Bulls and the No. 5 seed Houston Cougars. Game two is slated to start at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. Louisville enters the tournament with a season-best 14-game winning streak.

The Bulls (38-24, 15-9) were the only C-USA team who knew its seeding entering the final weekend of play. Fourth-seeded USF tuned up for the tournament with a three-game sweep on the road at Saint Louis. The Cougars (27-28, 11-12) needed just one win in their weekend series with UAB to clinch a spot in the tournament and did that on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of the Blazers. Sunday’s contest between the schools was the first rain out of the 2005 C-USA schedule.

Three-time defending tournament champion DePaul will be the No. 2 seed after dropping three straight to Louisville at home over the weekend. The Blue Demons led the Cardinals by two games in the C-USA standings entering the final weekend of play, but could not notch a win to secure the league title. DePaul will face the winner of the East Carolina-Southern Miss contest (Game One, 10 a.m.) in game three at 4 p.m.

The Pirates (55-17, 17-7), who are the No. 3 seed, led the nation in victories entering the final weekend of play, but dropped two of three to the Golden Eagles (28-30, 10-14) in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss needed a pair of wins on the weekend to secure a spot in the tournament and the squad accomplished that Sunday by winning the series with a 12-4 victory over East Carolina. The Golden Eagles earned the No. 6 seed in Tampa and have won nine of their last 11 contests.

The championship will be a six-team double-elimination tournament (except for the championship game), with the winner receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Saturday’s championship game on May 14 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. Don Russell will announce the play-by-play with Cheri Kempf providing the commentary.

2005 CONFERENCE USA SOFTBALL PRESEASON POLL
(2004 Overall, Conference Records)
1. Louisville (41-19, 19-5)
2. Houston (39-25, 12-11)
3. USF (60-14, 18-5)
4. DePaul (30-31, 13-9)
5. Southern Miss (33-26, 19-4)
6. East Carolina (47-24-1, 10-14)
7. UAB (20-36, 7-17)
8. Charlotte (23-29, 6-17)
9. Saint Louis (16-45, 1-23)

NFCA RPI
Here is a look at where Conference USA softball teams currently rank in the latest NFCA RPI, which is calculated through games of May 14.

30. DePaul
37. Louisville
46. USF
49. East Carolina
75. Houston
114. UAB
121. Southern Miss
169. Saint Louis
188. Charlotte

A complete listing is available at: http://www.warrennolan.com/softball/2005/rpi

DIAMOND STARS (C-USA Tournament)

DE PAUL: 1B SASKIA ROBERSON went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in the team’s first victory over Louisville. The senior then walked three times and a scored a run in the 6-2 championship game victory.

EAST CAROLINA: RHP KELI HARRELL became the school’s all-time strikeout leader in Tampa after registering 17 K’s in 13 innings of work. The sophomore finished the season with 338 punchouts and has 499 for her career.

HOUSTON: RF BRANDI CLARK had a superb C-USA Tournament run for the Cougars batting .417 (5-for-12) with a triple and a home run.

LOUISVILLE: SS COURTNEY MOORE earned an all-tournament team spot after a 5-for-15 effort, which included a two-run walk off homer against USF. 3B AUDREY RENDON led the tournament with seven hits and a .583 batting average.

SOUTHERN MISS: RHP DANIELLE WYMER posted a 1-1 record, but allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings of work in Tampa. Wymer had a career-high 12 strikeouts in a 2-1 upset of East Carolina.
USF: SS CHRISTIE CHAPMAN led the Bulls to a pair of wins with near flawless defense and a hot bat. The sophomore belted a three-run homer and also scored four runs in four games.

GLOWACZ GRABS NATIONAL HONORS
USA Softball recognized Houston 3B KRISTEN GLOWACZ as its Co-National Collegiate Player of the Week on March 8 after the senior batted .667 with five home runs and 11 RBI for the week (Feb. 28-March 6). Glowacz hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the Cougars’ second victory of the weekend over No. 16 Nebraska. She shared the honor with UCLA freshman Anjelica Selden, who tossed a pair of no-hitters against St. John’s and No. 18 Fresno State.

WIN STREAKS
Louisville has notched the league’s longest win streak of the season after reeling off 14 straight victories. It is the Cardinals’ second winning streak of 10 or more games this season. Here’s a look at the league’s longest winning streaks:

25 Southern Miss (April 8-May 19, 2000)
21 DePaul (March 26-April 24, 2003)
19 DePaul (March 24-April 14, 2001)
17 USF (Feb. 9-Mar. 7, 2003)
17 USF (March 14 – April 9, 2004)
17 Southern Miss (Feb. 29-March 18, 2000)
15 Louisville (April 20-May 12)
14 East Carolina (March 14-27, 2004)
13 Louisville (March 27, 2004 – April 21)
12 DePaul (April 9-May 2, 2002 )
11 Houston (Feb. 1-Feb. 16, 2002)
11 USF (Mar. 9- 23, 2002)
10 DePaul (April 29-May 16, 2003)
10 Louisville (March 29-April 14, 2005)
10 Southern Miss (Feb. 13-Feb. 27, 2000)
10 UAB (Mar. 8-Mar. 26, 2002)
10 USF (April 4-25, 2003)
10 USF (March 4-12, 2004)

HOME RUN QUEENS AND RBI MACHINES
DePaul 1B SASKIA ROBERSON and Houston 3B KRISTEN GLOWACZ are locked in a pair of tight races to see who will finish their respective careers as Conference USA’s all-time home run and RBI leaders. Through games of May 8 both seniors are ranked one-two in the respective categories with Roberson holding a one homer edge and Glowacz holding a seven-RBI lead. Here is a look at the C-USA career lists for all-time home runs and RBI:

Home Runs
49 Saskia Roberson, DPU (2002-current)
47 Kristen Glowacz, HOU (2002-current)
38 Arelis Ferreris, HOU (2001-04)
33 Holly Groves, USF (2002-04)
29 Kate Manuse, ECU (2002-current)
27 Kenya Peters, USM (2000-02)
27 Jenilee Skender, HOU (2002-current)
25 Christina Douglas, DPU (2001-04)
25 Sara Bausher, LOU (2002-current)

RBI
175 Kristen Glowacz, HOU (2002-current)
171 Saskia Roberson, DPU (2002-current)
164 Carmela Liwag, USF (2002-current)
158 Kate Manuse, ECU (2002-current)
157 Holly Groves, USF (2002-04)
152 Arelis Ferreris, HOU (2001-04)
140 Keola Calderon, LOU (2000-03)
132 Courtney Lewellen, USF (2000-03)
124 Cliffanie Engram, UAB (2000-03)
115 Sarah Martz, DPU (2001-04)

AROUND THE HORN

CHARLOTTE (17-39-1, 4-20 C-USA): The 49ers were the first league team to conclude their regular season after being swept on the road at East Carolina in a C-USA weekend series on May 1. Charlotte did not make it easy on its in-state foe as the 49ers lost two of the games by just a run before being shutout 2-0 in game three. EVAN MILLER led the 49ers in batting average with a .262 clip and also had a team-high 17 stolen bases this season. KAYCIE JONES was Charlotte’s top run-producer as she belted a team-high five home runs to go with a team-leading 27 RBI.

DE PAUL (40-18, 19-5 C-USA): The Blue Demons won their fourth-consecutive C-USA Tournament title with a 6-2 victory over Louisville in the championship game. DePaul, who moved up to No. 23 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll, earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament awarded to the conference tournament champs. The Blue Demons will travel to Madison, Wis., for the No. 8 Regional where they will open play against tournament-host Wisconsin. The eight-seeded Oregon State Beavers are the top-ranked team in the region. LHP MEGAN HUITINK held the Cards scoreless in three innings of relief in the championship game and went 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA in the tournament to claim MVP honors. 1B SASKIA ROBERSON, LF DANA KENNEY and UP KATE SHEAKS joined Huitink on the All-Tournament team. Roberson went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in the Blue Demons’ first victory over the Cards, but was walked three times in each of DePaul’s other two contests. Roberson will finish as C-USA’s all-time leader in home runs with 49 and counting. The senior trails current Houston standout Kristen Glowacz by four RBI in the race for the all-time lead in that category.

EAST CAROLINA (55-19, 17-7 C-USA): The Pirates went two-and-out in Tampa, dropping a 2-1 decision to Southern Miss and a suffering a 1-0 setback to USF. Sophomore KELI HARRELL was the only pitcher to see action for ECU in the tournament, compiling a 2.69 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 13 innings of work. Harrell her season ranked sixth in the nation with 29 wins and will enter her junior campaign just one strikeout short of 500 for her career. Harrell set the school’s all-time record for K’s in Tampa. The old record was 495. SS LEIGH SAVOY had the lone RBI for the Pirates and went 3-for-6 (.500) in two games. The Pirates 55 wins are currently tied for the third-most in the country.

HOUSTON (30-28, 11-12 C-USA): The Cougars advanced the final day of the C-USA Tournament, but fell short of second-consecutive championship game berth with an 11-0 loss to Louisville. Houston opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to the host Bulls, but rebounded to win two straight before the setback to the Cardinals. Freshman ANGEL SHAMBLIN made three appearances on the mound allowing just two earned runs in 10.1 innings of work. RF BRANDI CLARK provided the offensive spark for the Cougars and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Clark went 5-for-12 (.417) with the only triple of the tournament and she also added a solo home run.

LOUISVILLE (42-18, 20-4 C-USA): The Cardinals made their first appearance in the championship game, but dropped a 6-2 decision to DePaul. The loss did not prevent Louisville from earning its second-consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cards open play in South Bend, Ind., with the host of the No. 9 Regional, Notre Dame. The ninth-seeded Northwestern Wildcats are the top seed in the Cards’ region. The regular season champs dropped both contests to the Blue Demons in Tampa, after sweeping them the previous weekend to win the regular season title. SS COURTNEY MOORE and 3B AUDREY RENDON each earned All-Tournament spots along with catcher JENNY SKAGGS. Moore lifted the Cards to their first win of the tournament with a two-run walk off homer in a 5-4 win over tournament-host USF. Senior AJA SHERMAN then rebounded from a pair of rough outings to toss a one-hit shutout against Houston, which put the Cards in the championship game. The one-hitter for Sherman was her seventh of the season and third in C-USA Tournament history.

SAINT LOUIS (18-31-1, 4-20 C-USA): The Billikens wrapped up their season with three-consecutive losses to USF at home over the weekend. Saint Louis was a much better club on the road in 2005 picking up 13 of their 18 wins away from home. Nine of those wins were on the road, while four others came at neutral sites. CF ADRIENNE MAY led the club with a .345 batting average. Freshman KARA SELL drove in a team-high 21 runs in her rookie campaign.

SOUTHERN MISS (29-32, 10-14 C-USA): The Golden Eagles concluded their season with a 1-2 showing in Tampa at the C-USA Tournament. Southern Miss opened with a 4-1 upset of No. 3 East Carolina as DANIELLE WYMER struck out a career-high 12 Pirates in the 2-1 victory. Wymer allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings of work at the tournament. MELISSA PROUTY led the Golden Eagle offense with a .400 average (4-for-10) in three games. Prouty also doubled and scored a run. 1B ASHLEY DAVIS, a second-team All-C-USA pick, went 3-for-9 in the tournament.

UAB (23-37, 7-16 C-USA): The Blazers' regular-season finale was the first conference game lost to rain all season. UAB was ahead 2-0 on Houston in the fourth inning when the game was called. UAB dropped both games of a doubleheader to the Cougars on Saturday to be eliminated from contention for the C-USA Tournament. Sophomore RF LINDSAY STANLEY had a breakout season for the Blazers as she finished the campaign with a .335 batting average, which is the highest average for a single season in school history. She also led the conference with 31 stolen bases on 36 attempts, and ended the season on a 12-game hitting streak and hit safely in 17 of her last 18 games. Stanley tied former Blazer Candice Hithe's record for hits in a single season with 63 and was one shy of Hithe's record of 32 stolen bases. Senior CF SARA CHRISTOPHEL batted .274 with a team-leading five home runs and 29 RBI. Freshman LHP JENNIFER NELSON led the pitching staff with a 9-8 record and a 3.14 ERA. Nelson tossed eight complete games, three shutouts, and one perfect game. She led the team with 111 strikeouts.

USF (40-26, 15-9 C-USA): The Bulls earned their third-consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament after reaching the 40-win plateau with a pair of wins at the C-USA Tournament. In three previous NCAA Tournaments as a C-USA member, USF has compiled a 6-5 record. The Bulls open the tournament on Friday against future C-USA member UCF. The Bulls split four one-run games at the tournament defeating Houston (2-1) and East Carolina (1-0) and losing to Louisville (5-4) and Houston (4-3). Freshman of the Year BREE SPENCE picked up a pair of wins in Tampa allowing just four earned runs in 22.1 innings worked. SS CHRISTIE CHAPMAN belted a three-run homer and joined Spence on the All-Tournament team. CF SAMANTHA RAY batted .500 in the tournament, going 6-for-12 at the plate. RF TIFFANY STEWART shared the Tournament-RBI lead of three with five others including Chapman.

OUT OF OUR LEAGUE
For the fifth season in a row, Conference USA teams posted a winning record in non-conference action during the 2004 campaign. League teams won nearly 60 percent of their non-league games. Here’s a look at how the league has fared in non-conference action in the six years the league has sponsored softball:

2005: 175-131-2 (.570)
2004: 192-134-2 (.588)
2003: 156-92-1 (.628)
2002: 180-125-1 (.589)
2001: 94-81-1 (.537)
2000: 78-71(.523)

ERICKSEN COLLECTS 400th VICTORY
USF head coach KEN ERICKSEN is the third Conference USA coach this season to reach a milestone victory. Ericksen recorded his 400th career victory on April 9 in the Bulls’ 7-2 victory over UAB in game two of the doubleheader. In nine seasons at the helm of the Bulls, Ericksen has won two conference titles and guided his USF squads to five NCAA Tournament appearances.

400 KEE’S TO VICTORY
With a doubleheader sweep of UNC-Wilmington on March 23, East Carolina head coach TRACY KEE notched her 400th career win at the school. Kee is in her eighth season as head coach for the Pirates and 17th overall at the school. Following a successful four-year stint as a catcher/third baseman, Kee spent six seasons as an assistant coach in Greenville.

A GRAND VICTORY
East Carolina recorded its 1,000th win in school history on April 17 with a 4-1 victory over Louisville. The victory also finished off a series sweep of the Cardinals. Head Coach TRACY KEE has been a part of more than 400 of those victories as she reached that coaching milestone on March 23.

McNUTT NETS 300th WIN
Southern Miss head coach GAY McNUTT recorded the 300th victory of her coaching career on Feb. 13 at the Rebel/Easton Tournament in Oxford. USM rallied for the historic victory beating Ball State 5-4 in game six of the season.

ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Eight members of Conference USA schools were named to 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams. All first-team members are eligible to be named Academic All-American. Here is a list of those players the districts they represent:

First Team
Kate Manuse, East Carolina – District III
Sara Bausher, Louisville –District IV
Aja Sherman, Louisville – District IV
Charity Butler, Southern Miss – District IV
Tiffany Stewart, USF – District III

Second Team
Dana Kenney, DePaul – District V
Mandi Nichols, East Carolina – District III
Christie Chapman, USF – District III
Krista Holle, USF – District III
Samantha Ray, USF – District III

C-USA ON THE WEB
For all of the latest information on Conference USA baseball and the league’s other 18 sports, please visit www.ConferenceUSA.com.

C-USA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
C-USA teams have defeated eight ranked opponents this season. Houston leads the way having faced 11 Top 25 squads, while defeating three of them. DePaul, and Louisville have each defeated two ranked-opponents, while USF has defeated one.