Titan Tournament Starts Today With Top Softball Teams

Eight of the nation’s top 25 college softball teams are entered in this week’s PONY Invitational tournament at Cal State Fullerton.

The 16-team field includes No. 1-ranked Arizona, which is 25-0 for the season and 4-0 in the Pac-10. Arizona, which won the PONY title last season, also won the national championship.

Other ranked teams are Fresno State (No. 2), Washington (5), Oklahoma State (14), Oklahoma (15), Cal State Northridge (18), Southwest Louisiana (19) and Nevada Las Vegas (23).

Fullerton, which has lost six straight games and is 7-11 on the season, is not ranked.

The Titans have only two players hitting above .200 in the six conference games. For the season, Nikki Hart continues as the team’s top hitter at .379. Donna Coombes has the best pitching record at 4-4.

Pool play begins today with the Titans playing Georgia State at 6 p.m. Other games start at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and continue throughout the day. Preliminary rounds continue Friday.

The 16 teams will be seeded, based on pool play, into a single-elimination championship bracket that begins at 5 p.m. Friday. Play continues Saturday at 9 a.m. Sunday’s semifinals will be at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with the finals at 2 p.m.

The pool assignments:

Pool A--Arizona, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Hawaii.

Pool B--Fresno State, Cal State Northridge, Florida, Texas.

Pool C--Southwest Louisiana, Georgia State, Cal State Fullerton, Washington.

Pool D--Nevada Las Vegas, Oklahoma, Utah State, Oregon State.