Hamlet Nalbandyan
Long Beach State and Lehigh University earned berths for the 2004
NCAA Division I Softball Championship, joining 62 other programs with
aspirations for the College World Series.
Long Beach State (48-11) -- led by Crescenta Valley High graduates
Meredith Cervenka and Melanie McCauley -- is the No. 3 seed in the
Los Angeles region, which is hosted by top-seeded UCLA.
The 49ers, who earned an automatic bid after handily winning the
Big West Conference, will take on Ivy League champion Cornell (39-11)
in a first-round game at 9 a.m. Thursday
The winner will likely face No. 2-seed Alabama -- which takes on
Central Michigan on Thursday -- in a quarterfinal game at noon
Friday. That game will be broadcast live on ESPN.
ESPN will also broadcast the semifinal and championship games of
the double-elimination tournament.
Lehigh, which features 2003 Glendale High graduate Heather
Hamasaki, is the No. 7 seed in the Nebraska region, which is hosted
by the University of Nebraska.
Lehigh (40-15-2), which won the Patriot League title, will take on
No. 2-seed Nebraska (40-15) in a first-round game at 10:30 a.m. PDT
Thursday.
In the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Softball
National Championships bracket, Point Loma Nazarene -- led by La
Canada graduate Kelly Kalish -- earned a bid.
Point Loma (37-18), which is the No. 7 seed, takes on No. 10-seed
North Georgia (48-11) in a first-round game at 2 p.m. PDT Friday.
The winner will likely face No. 2-seed Simon Fraser (32-2) in the
next round at 6 p.m. PDT Saturday.
All games will be played at Wilson Morgan Softball Complex in
Decatur, Ala.
