Albany State softball headed to Palm Beach Atlantic

ALBANY — The excitement of this past weekend has worn off, and it’s back to business for the Albany State softball team.

Monday morning the Rams found out during the NCAA Selection Show that they will face Palm Beach Atlantic as an 8-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The team will travel to south Florida for the first round, playing at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

At 3:30 p.m., fourth-seeded Alabama-Huntsville will take on No. 5 seed Valdosta State at the same stadium to open the four-team, double-elimination regional that runs through Saturday.

This will be the softball program’s sixth trip to the tournament and is the first trip since 2013. Head coach Amber Barker said they were close to facing Palm Beach Atlantic earlier this year and are excited for the opportunity to hit the field.

“We were actually there earlier this year, we went down there to play Nova (Southeastern), and it’s ironic because Palm Beach wanted to play us,” she said. “We ended up not playing them and were rained out, but it’s exciting to be able to go down there. The girls were a little tired this morning, but they’re excited to head down there.”

Valdosta State beat Albany State in all four of their meetings this year. They opened the season Feb. 1 in Albany, with Valdosta State winning 9-4 and 8-2, and followed up April 24 in Valdosta, with Valdosta State winning 6-1 and 12-4.

The Rams did not face Alabama-Huntsville.

ASU athletics director Sherie Gordon said she’s proud of the softball team and hopes they kick off a long streak of success as several other sports play in the national tournament in the next few days.

“It’s great any time your institution gets to represent the conference and the institution in the region. It speaks volumes to Coach Barker and Coach (Harley) Roller and the young ladies and their hard work and commitment throughout the year,” Gordon said. “I tell people it’s not just softball. Golf started (Monday), they teed off at 8:30 this morning in regionals, baseball will be on the road next week, and then track will be in the national championships in Charlotte.

“Amber is leading the way this week and everyone else will be following suit, so it’s pretty awesome.”

This year, Palm Beach Atlantic defeated Nova Southeastern and claimed its first Sunshine State Conference title. The Sailfish finished 33-6 overall and 26-4 in SSC play and have the current conference coach of the year, player of the year and five all-conference team members.

Albany State finished the season 29-22 overall and 19-0 in conference play and boast five SIAC all-conference team members.