May 5, 2008
Methodist to Host NCAA First Round Softball Tournament
Number three seeded Monarchs are scheduled to play Ursinus Thursday at 12 pm

 

INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division III Softball Committee has announced the 59 teams that will compete in the Division III Softball Championship.

Seven teams will compete at five first-round sites and eight teams will compete at three first-round sites for a total of eight first-round sites. All sites will use a double-elimination format.

Methodist will host a seven-team first round site May 8-11 on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals, hosted by the City of Salem, Virginia and Old Dominion Athletic Conference, will be held May 16-20 at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia.

Thirty-six conferences received automatic qualification and five independents were selected for the 2008 championship. The 18 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining independent institutions.

Fayetteville Bracket

Fayetteville Tournament Website

SITES:
*Indicates host institution

Seed No. 1 - Winner of first round at Tyler, Texas.
1. Louisiana College (39-5)
2. *Texas-Tyler (40-7)
3. Mary Hardin-Baylor (32-9)
4. Linfield (36-4)
5. Redlands (34-10)
6. Chapman (27-9)
7. La Verne (27-17)

Seed No. 2 - Winner of first round at Fayetteville, North Carolina.
1. Lynchburg (36-5)
2. Christopher Newport (33-8-1)
3. *Methodist (34-10)
4. Emory (28-10)
5. LaGrange (24-18)
6. Ursinus (31-9)
7. Neumann (27-12)

Seed No. 3 - Winner of first round at Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
1. St. Thomas (Minnesota) (40-3)
2. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (27-8)
3. North Central (Illinois) (29-11)
4. Simpson (28-10)
5. Illinois Wesleyan (29-9)
6. *Wisconsin-Eau Claire (28-11)
7. Aurora (35-6)
8. Ripon (20-12)

Seed No. 4 - Winner of first round at Plattsburgh, New York.
1. Montclair State (42-4)
2. Endicott (38-4)
3. St. John Fisher (24-19)
4. Cortland State (39-11)
5. Eastern Connecticut State (26-12)
6. Springfield (29-15)
7. Keuka (23-7)

Seed No. 5 - Winner of first round at Rock Island, Illinois.
1. DePauw (37-2)
2. Wartburg (29-6)
3. Wisconsin-Whitewater (30-8)
4. Tri-State (31-6)
5. Washington U. in St. Louis (24-13)
6. Coe (31-14)
7. Alma (25-11)
8. Maryville (Missouri) (27-15)

Seed No. 6 - Winner of first round at Ithaca, New York.
1. *Ithaca (28-7)
2. Ramapo (33-10)
3. Rochester (28-10)
4. Lebanon Valley (27-9)
5. DeSales (27-13)
6. Bethany (West Virginia) (22-21)
7. Penn State-Behrend (33-12)
8. Defiance (22-16)

Seed No. 7 - Winner of first round at Glassboro, New Jersey.
1. Muskingum (36-9)
2. Mount Union (30-7)
3. *Rowan (31-9)
4. Kean (30-14)
5. Western Connecticut State (28-13)
6. Denison (25-10)
7. Hunter (22-19)

Seed No. 8 - Winner of first round at Providence, Rhode Island.
1. *Rhode Island College (33-7)
2. Tufts (28-9)
3. St. Joseph’s (Long Island) (30-6)
4. Wellesley (27-9-1)
5. Lesley (30-10)
6. Bridgewater State (26-15)
7. Rivier (24-12)

Linfield won the 2007 NCAA Division III Softball Championship by defeating Washington-St. Louis 10-2 in last year’s championship game.

For more information about the Division III Softball Championship, log on to www.ncaa.com.

-Courtesy NCAA