ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum College softball team is seeded sixth in next week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, announced the league office Saturday with the release of the tournament pairings.

Lenoir-Rhyne University (44-6, 15-1 SAC) is the top seed after winning its sixth regular season title. The ninth-ranked Bears will face eighth seeded Catawba College (29-22, 5-11 SAC) at 4:30 p.m. when the tournament begins Thursday in Wingate, N.C. Catawba finished in a four-way tie for sixth place in the conference standings, but earned the eighth seed in the tournament after conference officials broke the tie.

Carson-Newman College is the tournament's second seed. The Eagles (33-8, 11-5 SAC) are the tournament's two-time defending champions and have won a league-best nine tournament titles. The Eagles will face seventh-seed Lincoln Memorial University (27-19, 5-11 SAC) at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Newberry College and Mars Hill College each went 9-7 in conference play to tie for third in the conference standings. Mars Hill and Newberry split their regular-season meeting. Newberry earned the third seed by virtue of its split against top-seed Lenoir-Rhyne, while Mars Hill lost both meetings against the Bears. The Scarlett and Gray (29-11, 9-7 SAC), will face sixth-seed Tusculum College (14-24, 5-11 SAC) at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. Newberry defeated the Pioneers in both regular season meetings, emerging victorious from a pair of thrilling contests on Saturday afternoon.

Tusculum, Lincoln Memorial, Catawba and Brevard College tied for sixth place in the final conference standings. Against the other three teams in the four-way tie, Tusculum went 4-2, Lincoln Memorial went 4-2, Brevard went 3-3, and Catawba went 1-5.

Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum, with 4-2 records against all tied teams and 1-1 against each other, were broken out and that tie was broken by going head-to-head against the top seed and working down. Both teams were 0-2 against top-seed Lenoir-Rhyne. Tusculum split with second-seed Carson-Newman, while the Railsplitters were 0-2, giving the Pioneers the sixth seed. The Railsplitters, Catawba and Brevard remained in a three-way tie. Lincoln Memorial earned the seventh seed by going 3-1 against Catawba and Brevard.

The tournament kicks off Thursday with fourth-seed Mars Hill (9-7 SAC, 26-13 overall) facing tournament host and fifth-seed Wingate University (8-8 SAC, 33-13 overall) on Thursday at 9 a.m.

Tournament play continues with six games on Friday. Two games on Friday will be played at Forest Hills High School.

Three more games are set for Saturday. The championship game will be played Sunday at Wingate at 1 p.m., with a second game, if necessary, to follow.

The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.

All-Tournament tickets will be available at the gate for $15 for adults and $7 for students and children. Daily ticket prices are $6 for adults and $3 for students and children.

Wingate University will provide live stats and a live pay-per-view webcast for all games played at Wingate University.

Food Lion is the title sponsor for all South Atlantic Conference championships.

- SAC -

Thursday, April 22
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament
At Wingate University, Wingate, N.C.
Game 1: No. 4 Mars Hill vs. No. 5 Wingate, 9 am
Game 2: No. 3 Newberry vs. No. 6 Tusculum, 11:30 am
Game 3: No. 2 Carson-Newman vs. No. 7 Lincoln Memorial, 2 pm
Game 4: No. 8 Catawba vs. No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne, 4:30 pm

Friday, April 23
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament
At Forest Hills High School, Marshville, N.C.
Game 5: Newberry/Tusclum loser vs. Carson-Newman/Lincoln Memorial loser, 9 am
Game 6: Mars Hill/Wingate loser vs. Catawba/Lenoir-Rhyne loser, 11:30 am
At Wingate University, Wingate, N.C.
Game 7: Newberry/Tusculum winner vs. Carson-Newman/Lincoln Memorial winner, 9 am
Game 8: Mars Hill/Wingate winner vs. Catawba/Lenoir-Rhyne winner, 11:30 am
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 2 pm
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 4:30 pm

Saturday, April 24
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament
At Wingate University, Wingate, N.C.
Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 11 am
Game 12: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 1:30 pm
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 loser, 4 pm

Sunday, April 25
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament
At Wingate University, Wingate, N.C.
Championship Game 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 1 pm
Game 15 (if necessary), Game 14 winner vs. Game 14 loser, 3:30 pm