University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 22 Tar Heels Earn NCAA Berth
May 14, 2006 | Softball
May 14, 2006
CHAPEL HILL --- After posting a school-record 48 wins in 2006, the No. 22 North Carolina softball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship, the NCAA announced Sunday. The Tar Heels will travel to the Gainesville, Fla., regional May 19-21. UNC will meet South Florida in the opening round, while Florida will face Florida Atlantic in the other opening round game.
South Florida enters the tournament with a record of 47-23. They are ranked 25th in the most recent NFCA/USA Today Top 25 after finishing second in the Big East in the regular season.
Florida is the No. 16 overall seed in the tournament, the first national seed in the program's history. The Gators are 42-23 and finished third in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference.
Florida Atlantic is 33-23 and the champion from the Atlantic Sun. FAU is the only team in the Gainesville regional that the Tar Heels played in the regular season. UNC beat the Owls 2-1 on March 18 in Boca Raton, Fla. That win was one of Carolina's NCAA-leading 21 road wins in 2006.
UNC and USF will meet in game one of the regional Friday at 2:30 p.m. The winner will play the winner of Florida-FAU Saturday.
