May 11, 2008

Long Beach, Calif. - Beach Softball is headed to Iowa. Long Beach State was picked as the No. 14 seed nationally and the top seed for the Iowa City Regional, where the 49ers will open postseason play on Friday, May 16.

Long Beach State will open play against Creighton, while the host Iowa Hawkeyes will play Missouri to round out the opening round field.

"I'm very excited to get the number one seed," said head coach Kim Sowder. "I think that we've earned it with the schedule we've played along with the success that our team has had this season."

The 2008 Big West Champions, Long Beach State finished the regular season with a 39-15 record, and was ranked in the Top 25 for most of the season, reaching a high of No. 14, the same as their national seed entering the tournament. The 49ers had the top strength of schedule in the nation entering conference play, and had wins over national-seeds Texas A&M and Northwestern along with being one of just two teams to defeat top-seeded Florida in the regular season.

Despite earning one of the top 16 seeds, the 49ers were not chosen to host their regional, one of four teams to be picked as the No. 1 seed and not play at home. "It would have been great to play here, but we're still thrilled with the opportunity to play as a top seed," said Sowder. "It shows a lot of respect for us as a program."

The regional format consists of a double-elimination tournament for four teams over the course of three days. Long Beach State opens the Iowa City regional with a game against Creighton at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 16, with the second game of Missouri and Iowa to follow immediately after.

The winner of the Iowa City Regional will face the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional in the Super-Regionals the following weekend for the right to go to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. No. 3 seed and host Alabama will take on UT-Chattanooga, Jacksonville State and Florida State.