PBC Releases Softball Tournament Bracket

The Peach Belt Conference has released the 2009 softball tournament bracket from the conference office in Augusta, Ga. The tournament begins on Friday morning at the Freedom Florence Complex in Florence, S.C. North Georgia will be the top seed for the double-elimination tournament which runs through the championship game on Sunday.

The Saints, ranked #2 in the nation, captured their first PBC regular season championship with an extraordinary 37-3 overall record, 15-1 in conference play with two games scheduled to be played on Wednesday afternoon. North Georgia will meet the winner of the UNC Pembroke/Georgia Southwestern game at 1:30.

Georgia College & State University is the second seed. The defending tournament champions are 30-18 overall, 12-4 in conference play with two games left in the regular season schedule. The Bobcats won the 2008 tournament as the #3 seed and will face the Francis Marion/Lander winner on Friday at 1:30.

USC Aiken is the #3 seed after winning a three-game tiebreak. The Pacers, ranked 18th in the nation, were the only PBC team to defeat North Georgia this year and picked up the spot after splitting their games with Armstrong Atlantic State and Augusta State. USCA will face Columbus State in their first game on Friday at 1:30.

Armstrong Atlantic moved up to the #4 seed after they finished a two-game sweep of UNC Pembroke on Wednesday afternoon 8-5 in a game that was suspended in the sixth inning on Tuesday night. Now 11-7 overall, the Pirates picked up a tiebreak win over fifth-seeded Augusta State thanks to a win earlier this year over GCSU. Augusta State will be the #5 seed but the two teams will meet each other in the first game at 11:00 am.

Columbus State will be the #6 seed while host Francis Marion will be #7. The Patriots won a tiebreak over UNC Pembroke thanks to an earlier win over GCSU. UNCP fell to the #8 seed following Wednesday’s loss to AASU. Georgia Southwestern, making their first-ever PBC Tournament appearance, will be the #9 seed while Lander will be 10th.

The winner of the PBC Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Daily admission is $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for children 6-12. Children under six will be admitted for free.

Tournament Bracket (PDF)

Official Tournament Website