STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 13, 2003 - The Penn State softball team travels to Fullerton, Calif., for the NCAA Region 6 Tournament which was announced Sunday night. The Nittany Lions earn their fourth-straight NCAA Tournament bid after PSU posted a 30-21 overall record this season. Penn State plays its opening round game against Oregon on Thursday, May 15.
The Nittany Lions are the sixth seed in the eight-team bracket and face third-seeded Oregon. The top seed and host is Cal-State Fullerton who is the Big West Conference Champion. It faces the winner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Rider who is the eighth seed. Oklahoma State is the second seed and Louisiana-Lafayette and San Diego State are the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively. America East Champion Boston University traveled to the same regional as the Nittany Lions last year in Minneapolis, Minn., and could meet PSU again in Fullerton, Calif., as the Terriers were seeded seventh in the bracket. Penn State finished seventh in the Big Ten with a 9-9 mark, narrowly missing making its fifth-consecutive trip to the conference tourney. The Lions are one of seven teams to earn NCAA Tournament bids along with Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan State and Minnesota. The Hawkeyes captured the Big Ten Tournament crown to claim the conference's automatic bid. "We are very excited to be going to regionals once again," said Penn State head coach Robin Petrini. "We played a tough schedule this season and had quality wins. We showed we can compete with anyone in the country." All eight NCAA Regional Tournaments will be played from May 15-18. NCAA Region 6 Tournament, Fullerton, Calif.
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