BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – The 2008 NAIA Region XII Softball Tournament bracket has been announced and the Union College Lady Bulldogs are the No. 5 seed for the event. Union opens play Wednesday against Indiana University Southeast at 10 a.m.

Union finished third in the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season with a second-place finish in the AAC Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs enter the tournament with a record of 22-27. This is the second Region XII Tournament appearance in a row for the Lady Bulldogs. Last season Union advanced to the losers' bracket final.

Indiana University Southeast, the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament winner, owns an overall record of 29-10. Indiana Southeast, the region's No. 4 seed, was the KIAC regular-season runner up and won the conference tournament.

The winner between Union and Indiana Southeast advances to play top-seeded Milligan (Tenn.) College, the AAC regular-season and tournament champions. That contest is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start. The loser has to wait until Thursday to play a losers' bracket game at noon.

The other first-round contest at noon features the KIAC regular-season champion and the third seed, Mountain State (W.Va.) University against sixth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan College, from the AAC. The winner has to play UVa-Wise, the second-place team in the AAC regular-season standings.

So far through 2008, Union has a 6-5 record against the five other teams in the tournament. Two of the wins were against Mountain State and Union split doubleheaders against UVa-Wise and Tennessee Wesleyan. Against Milligan, the Lady Bulldogs split the regular-season doubleheader and won the first meeting in the AAC Tournament before Milligan took two games for the tournament crown.

The double-elimination tournament is being played at Indiana Southeast in New Albany. The winner of Friday's championship game at 1 p.m. receives an automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Tournament. An if necessary game would follow the first championship contest.

For additional tournament information, click here.