STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 13, 2001 - The Penn State softball team earned the No. 5 seed in Region 3 of the 2001 NCAA Softball Tournament which was announced on Sunday night. The Lions are making their second-consecutive trip to the postseason tournament.

The first round of action will begin on Thursday, May 17 in Baton Rouge, La. The Lions will take on second-seeded Arizona State, also an at-large selection. Also in the same region are host No. 1 Louisiana State, No. 3 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 4 Southern Mississippi and No. 5 Cornell. The teams will play in a double elimination tournament format for the right to advance to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla., on May 24-28.

"We are very excited and look forward to continuing our season. It is a credit to our team and what they have accomplished throughout the whole season and in the Big Ten Tournament," commented head coach Robin Petrini. "It is also a credit to how we played in the preseason where you really gain the strength of your schedule. We are excited to go down to Baton Rouge and give it our best shot."

The Lions are coming off of a solid performance at the Big Ten Tournament, where they went 2-2, defeating Illinois and Ohio State. Penn State has put together an overall record of 32-25 and finished fifth in the Big Ten.

The Sun Devils are 34-20 and finished fifth in the Pac-10 Conference.

Penn State made its first trip to the tournament since 1985 last season, when the Lions won a school-record 38 games.

Times for the NCAA Region 3 Tournament games will be determined on Monday, May 13.

--LIONS--