May 5, 2008

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- Massachusetts earned its 20th regular season title and the top seed in the 2008 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, which will take place at the 49ers Softball Diamond in Charlotte, N.C., from May 7-10. Same day coverage of the Championship's final game on May 10 will be broadcast on tape-delay at 8:00pm on CBS College Sports.

The Minutewomen posted a 20-0 Atlantic 10 record and second-straight perfect A-10 regular season after going 18-0 last year. Twentieth-ranked UMass (35-11) enters the Championship with a 26-game winning streak and 38-game winning streak in A-10 play and will enjoy a first round bye.

St. Bonaventure (11-7/20-22) earns the other first-round bye after finishing the regular season in second place. The Bonnies earned their highest-seed ever in A-10 Championship play and seek their first-ever Championship title.

The double-elimination Championship commences on Wednesday, May 7, with fourth-seeded Fordham (11-9/33-28) squaring off against fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's (11-9/18-21) at 2:00pm. That will be followed by the match-up between third-seeded Charlotte (12-8/32-29) and sixth-seeded Saint Louis (11-9/23-31-1) at 4:00pm, with the losers of games one and two facing one another at 6:00pm.

Massachusetts will play its first game at 2:00pm on Thursday, May 8, against the Fordham-Saint Joseph's winner, while St. Bonaventure begins play at 2:00pm against the Charlotte-Saint Louis victor. The last game of the day features the winner of the 6:00pm game on Wednesday versus the lowest remaining seed at 6:00pm.

Round three play on Friday, May 9, begins at 2:00pm with another tripleheader. The finals of the A-10 Championship will be played at noon on Saturday, May 10, with a possible rematch at 2:00pm, if necessary. The Saturday contest(s) can be seen on tape delay at 8:00pm on CBS College Sports.

The champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

For complete coverage of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, including live audio and video streaming, log on to www.atlantic10.org