Fresno State, the defending National Champion, is the #1 seed in Region 4 of this 48 team, double-elimination tournament. FAMU earned the league’s automatic bid after sweeping through the MEAC tournament undefeated two weeks ago. Each of the eight regions begin on Thursday and will continue play through Sunday, May 23rd. The other four teams in Region 4 include the Univ. of South Carolina, Texas Tech, Stanford and Pacific.
FAMU (34-29) will make their first trip to the national tournament, after three years in the NCAA Play-In rounds. In 1998 the Rattlerettes took on Coastal Carolina and fell 2-1 and 5-3. Following their 1997 MEAC Championship, FAMU battled Cleveland State.
FAMU took the first game 4-2 and dropped the second and third games 8-0 and 12-0. In 1995, Nicholls State awaited the Rattlerettes as they defeated FAMU 16-0 and 9-0. Over the past eight seasons, FAMU has won six MEAC Championships, the last three of which were back-to-back-to-back (‘97, ‘98, ‘99).
The Rattlerettes are led by MEAC Player-of-the-Year Valerie Stoudemire (left fielder), tournament Most Outstanding Performer, Amber Alford (pitcher) and First-Team All-Conference selections, Kim Browning (third-baseman) and Tonya Minick (centerfielder). Head Coach Veronica Wiggins was also named MEAC Coach-of-the-Year this season.
Front Page |
Newsroom Index |