The first game of the Division II Softball Championship didn't disappoint - on the field or in the dugouts. The teams played a barnburner of game, with St. Edward's winning on a run-scoring single from Lisa Paul in the bottom of the seventh inning. But like the contest on the diamond, the competitive cheering from the dugouts was tight throughout the afternoon.

The NCAA sponsors 88 championships in 23 sports, but the cheers in the 22 other sports pale in comparison to the utter passion displayed from softball dugouts across the country.

"If we're up cheering and we're loud, that just shows how much we want the game," said St. Edward's outfielder Kristen Lozano. "We want it all and we don't want to stay quiet for one second."

Softball cheers can range in length, volume and pop influence, but the most original seem to be the ones that you walk away whistling.

For instance, led by sophomore Sara Hipson, the Barry team changed the lyrics of the popular Spice Girls song "Wannabe" to encourage junior Ashley Likens when she came to the plate.

If you wanna be my Likens/you got to hit that ball/run around the bases/and touch 'em all. If you wanna be my Likens/you have got to rip/rip it over center/cause that's the way it is. You gotta, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta/slam, slam, slam/if you wanna be my Likens! (listen to the cheer).

In the third game Wednesday, two distinct cheering styles were employed by Lock Haven and Humboldt State. While the Lady Eagles focused their cheers on the jersey number and last name of the batter, Humboldt State's players brought a jazzier, Aretha Franklin-style to their cheers.

After a dramatic, 10-inning win, Humboldt State gathered outside the field and gave a sample of one of their favorite cheers.

Although the majority of softball student-athletes seem destined for superstardom with their creative and musical skills, it turns out that cheers rarely break out in the classrooms back on campus.

"Softball is really the only place we cheer," said St. Edward's junior Jaime Zilverberg. "Sometimes we get excited and cheer outside the dugout, but nowhere else really."

After finishing its round on the links yesterday, the St. Edward's men's golf team headed over to the softball diamond to take in some of the game between Lock Haven and Humboldt State.

Junior Andrew Workman enjoyed the singsong atmosphere, and remarked about the different approaches he's seen while frequenting softball games.

"I've seen a couple different styles. Some get real quiet before they hit and some of them just keep it rolling," Workman said. "I think it's really good that the girls do that for each other."

Although he enjoys the cheering from the stands, Workman isn't sure it would translate well to the golf course.

"We were actually talking about it. I think it would be kind of crazy and we might lose our focus," Workman said. "But I think it works great in this sport."

There has been no research to prove that there is a correlation between cheer volume and victories on the field, but apparently nobody told the players. When Barry faces elimination in its game against Francis Marion this morning, Hipson says the team's cheers will be louder than they've been all season.

"We'll be our loudest and our strongest," Hipson said.