April 30, 2003

Softball team collects No. 6 seed for MIAA Tournament

The Missouri Southern softball team will have the No. 6 seed for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Postseason Tournament, to be held Friday and Saturday at Happy Rock Park in Gladstone, Mo.

Southern (22-23, 8-10 MIAA) will open play at noon on Friday vs. No. 3 Central Missouri State (32-19, 12-6). From there, the Lady Lions will face either No. 2 Washburn (33-12, 13-5) or No. 7 Missouri Western (16-28, 7-11). A first-round victory by the Lady Lions would have them in the 4 p.m. game. A first-round loss means Southern gets back on the field at 2 p.m.

The tournament is a double-elimination format and has at least four and possibly five more games set for Saturday.

The top half of the bracket has No. 1 and league regular season champion Truman State (33-13, 15-3) squaring off with No. 8 Missouri-Rolla (19-24, 7-11). Also in the first round, No. 4 Northwest Missouri State (28-19, 10-8) meets No. 5 Emporia State (34-18, 9-9).

The Lady Lions finished their regular season on Tuesday with a split at Missouri Western.

Directions to get to Happy Rock Park are as follows: Take Interstate 35 North to Missouri 152 West. Go west on 152 to the Indiana (MO-1) exit. Turn left onto Indiana and follow it to 83rd Street. Turn left on 83rd, which eventually turns into Antioch Road. Follow Antioch to 76th Street, and the park is just past the tennis courts, with the softball complex at the back side of the park. A complete printable bracket can be found on the MIAA website (www.themiaa.com).