San Antonio – St. Mary’s University is hosting the 2007 Heartland Conference Softball Tournament at Rattler Field on Thursday through Saturday of this week. The Rattlers are the second seed in the tournament, while regular season champion St. Edward’s University will be the top seed.

The Rattlers enter Thursday’s tournament opener with a 39-16 overall record and a 12-3 mark in the Heartland Conference regular season. All three of their HC losses came against St. Edward’s. With wins in 14 of their last 16 games, the Rattlers are red-hot entering the tournament. The Rattlers lead the HC in pitching with a 1.41 ERA and in fielding with a .965 percentage. They also rank second in hitting with a .292 average. Malissa Magee (Jr., Houston) is 24-8 with a 0.68 ERA, 239 strikeouts and 14 shutouts this season. At the plate Kelcy Walker (Jr., San Antonio) is second in the HC with a .394 average, 13 doubles, 10 homeruns, 45 RBI and 48 runs scored.
 
St. Mary’s will play in the final game of day one of the tournament when they face the winner of the Montana State University-Billings-Oklahoma Panhandle State University matchup at 6:30 p.m. MSUB and OPSU will play at 1:30 p.m. The first game of the day will feature the University of the Incarnate Word and Lincoln University at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will face top-seeded SEU at 4 p.m.

Play will continue on Friday, starting at 11 a.m. with two loser’s bracket matchups. Game times on Friday will be 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturday will feature the loser’s bracket championship and the tournament championship. Times on Saturday will be 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with a second championship game to be played at 4 p.m. if necessary.

The winner of the 2007 Heartland Conference Tournament will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA South Central Region Championships. St. Mary’s is the defending HC Tournament champion. St. Mary’s has hosted the Heartland Tournament three times.

2007 Heartland Conference Tournament Schedule
Rattler Field, St. Mary’s University Campus, San Antonio, Texas

Thursday, April 26
Game 1 – #4 Incarnate Word vs. #5 Lincoln, 11 a.m.
Game 2 – #3 Montana State-Billings vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State, 1:30 p.m.
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. #1 St. Edward’s, 4 p.m.
Game 4 – Winner Game 2 vs. #2 St. Mary’s, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 27
Game 5 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 11 a.m.
Game 6 – Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m.
Game 8 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 28
Game 9 – Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 11 a.m.
Game 10 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 1:30 p.m.
Game 11 – Winner Game 10 vs. Loser, Game 10, 4 p.m.

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