May 9, 2010

2010 Championship Bracket

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Massachusetts earned its 22nd regular season title and the top seed in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, to be held at the UMass Softball Complex in Amherst, Mass., May 12-15. UMass highlights the six-team field and is joined by No. 2 Fordham, No. 3 Charlotte, No. 4 Saint Louis, No. 5 Saint Joseph's and No. 6 Rhode Island.

The 20th-ranked Minutewomen (38-7-1) posted an unbeaten 15-0-1 Atlantic 10 record and enter the Championship riding a nation’s best 24-game win streak. They will enjoy a first round bye and are looking for their 22nd tournament title and sixth straight.

Fordham (45-8/16-2) earns the other first-round bye after finishing the regular season in second place at 16-2 in league play. The Rams are making their eight-straight Championship appearance and seek their first title.

The double-elimination Championship commences on Wednesday, May 12, with fourth-seeded Saint Louis (29-24-1/12-7-1) squaring off against fifth-seeded  Saint Joseph’s (27-16/11-7) at 1:00pm. The Hawks-Billikens match-up will be followed third-seeded Charlotte (38-16/15-5) taking on sixth-seeded Rhode Island (19-33/8-12) at 3:00pm, with the losers of games one and two facing each other at 5:00pm. URI ended the regular season tied for sixth place with Temple but earned the final berth by virtue of the league’s tie-breaker procedures.

Massachusetts will play its first game at 12:00pm on Thursday, May 13, against the Saint Joseph’s-Saint Louis winner, while Fordham begins play at 2:00pm against the Charlotte-Rhode Island victor. The last game of the day features the winner of the 5:00pm game on Wednesday versus the lowest remaining seed at 4:00pm on Thursday.

Third round play on Friday, May 14, begins at 12:00pm with another tripleheader. The finals of the A-10 Championship will be played at 2:00pm on Saturday, May 15, with a possible rematch at 4:00pm, if necessary.

The champion receives the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

For complete coverage of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, including live audio and video streaming of each contest for $7.95 per game, log on to www.atlantic10.org.