Patriot softball team ranked 5th in final national poll

The Francis Marion University women's softball team is ranked fifth in the final 2008 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 poll, the highest ranking for the Patriot program since the school moved to NCAA affiliation in 1992.

Francis Marion enjoyed its most successful season in 20 years posting a 39-16 record, the third-highest win total in team history.  The Patriots earned their first-ever bid to the NCAA Division II national tournament, won the South Atlantic Regional, and advanced to the Division II national finals (Elite Eight) in Houston, Texas.

FMU played one of the tougher schedules in the country with seven contests against nationally ranked opponents and nearly half its games (27) against squads that made the national tournament.

The Patriots have won at least 30 games in nine of the past 11 seasons.  Prior to its breakthrough 2008 campaign, the squad had narrowly missed out on earning a bid to the NCAA Division II tournament for four straight years.

The program's highest national ranking occurred in 1988 when Francis Marion was ranked No. 1 in the pre-season NAIA poll.

FMU loses only three seniors off its 2008 roster.

National champion Humboldt State University (57-18) tops the poll, which includes three Peach Belt Conference schools.