Softball To Take On Tennessee In Opening Round Of NCAA Regional Competition
May 16, 2004
NCAA Regional Bracket in PDF Format
Chicago, Ill. - The 2004 Horizon League regular-season and tournament champion UIC softball team learned its postseason fate on Sunday evening, as the Flames will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on Tennessee in the opening round of the NCAA Regional Championships. The seventh-seeded Flames (39-21) and #2 Lady Volunteers (53-14) will play on Thursday, May 20th, at 11:30 a.m., CST at Alumni Field. In other action at the Ann Arbor Regional, host and top seed Michigan will play #8 Canisius (4:30 p.m.). Fourth-seeded Notre Dame will take on #5 DePaul (2:00 p.m.) and #3 Oregon State will meet #6 Bowling Green (9:00 a.m.). UIC, which has won 28 of its last 31 games, earned an automatic bid by winning its league tournament. The Flames are making their eighth all-time appearance in NCAA Regional competition and own a 9-13 all-time record in regional play. This is also UIC's fourth trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., for NCAA postseason play, having played at Alumni Field in 1995, 1998 and 2000. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Flames and Tennessee. The Lady Volunteers enter the event ranked 11th in the country and are led by Southeastern Conference Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, Monica Abbott. She owns a 43-8 record in the circle this season with a 0.99 ERA.
The Flames will counter with a potent offense led by Horizon League Player of the Year, senior Amanda Rivera. Rivera is batting .384 with a team-high 20 home runs and 56 RBI this season
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