May 6, 2008
2008 SoCon Tournament Bracket 
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The sixth-seeded Furman softball team will open play in the 2008 Southern Conference Softball Championship Wednesday when it faces host and third-seeded College of Charleston in a 5 p.m. contest at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The match-up with the Cougars marks the fifth straight year Furman and Charleston have faced off in the opening round of the league tournament. The winner of the first round battle has managed to advance all the way to the championship game in each of the past four seasons.
Charleston (31-31, 12-8 SoCon) topped Furman 9-1 in the 2004 tournament opener on its way to a league title before downing the Paladins 4-0 and advancing to the finals in 2005. Furman shocked CofC 4-1 in 2006 to begin its march to a SoCon finals showdown with Georgia Southern. In 2007, Furman toppled the second-seeded Cougars 12-5 on the way to a SoCon Tournament title.
Furman (21-31, 8-13 SoCon) enters the SoCon Tournament having dropped 14 of its last 18 games, but the Paladins swept a three-game series from the Cougars in Mt. Pleasant April 5-6. Sophomore hurler Lana Mackey, who leads the SoCon with 235 strikeouts and six shutouts, tossed 17 innings without surrendering an earned run to capture all three victories in the regular season series.
Furman's hottest bat entering the league tournament is freshman Katie Michaels. The leadoff hitter and centerfielder from Waco, Texas, has batted .351 (34-97) over the last 25 games while setting the table for the Paladin offense. First Baseman Brythe Blankenship paced the Furman offense over 21 SoCon games hitting .318 with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI. The sophomore belted a solo shot to give Furman a 1-0 victory over Charleston in the series finale on April 6.
The winner of Wednesday's game will face the winner of the first round match-up between seventh-seeded Appalachian State and second-seeded Georgia Southern at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The losers will play an elimination game at noon on Thursday.
Fans can follow all the tournament action at www.soconsports.com or by clicking on the "livestats" link on the Furman softball schedule page.
