Lady Bears To Make Fourth Straight Run at USCAA National Championship

BROOKLYN, NY – St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) athletic director and head softball coach Frank P. Carbone is proud to announce that the Lady Bears softball team has accepted an invitation to compete in the 2012 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Softball National Championships to be held at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio from May 15-17.

It will mark the fourth straight year St. Joseph's will compete for the softball national championship.

The core of five Lady Bears seniors are poised to make a title run after a disappointing seventh place finish last season – after entering as the number three seed – and a third place finish two years ago, the best finish in five tournament appearances to date. 

St. Joseph's comes off their fourth straight Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference tournament title and stands at 25-10 on the season, working on an eight-game winning streak.  After starting the season with six straight losses, the Lady Bears assembled a program-best 15-game winning streak.

The seedings and draw for the eight-team, double elimination tournament will be announced later this week.  St. Joseph's was ranked seventh in last week's Coaches' Poll.  First and second round play will take place on Tuesday, May 15th and the tournament will conclude with the championship series on Thursday, May 17th.

The championships will be held for the third straight year at Firestone Stadium, home of the Akron Racers, a professional softball team in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league.

Fans can follow the Lady Bears with live video and stats of all the St. Joseph's games from Akron, OH on www.SJCBears.com.  Also follow @SJCBears on Twitter for live updates throughout the games.  Additional information can be found on the USCAA website at www.theUSCAA.com.