Central gains record 23rd NCAA softball tourney berth‏

Central College

For the 23rd time in 26 years, Central College is in the NCAA Division III softball tournament field. The tourney road begins at home as the Iowa Conference co-champion Dutch (35-7) play host to an eight-team regional, facing Benedictine (Ill.) (37-6) Thursday at 4 p.m. Central is seeded second in the regional bracket, behind Linfield (Ore.) (41-2), the No. 1-ranked team in the NFCA Division III poll. In other Thursday games, Linfield meets eighth-seeded Anderson (Ind.) at 10 a.m., fourth-seeded Fontbonne (Mo.) (29-8) takes on fifth-seeded Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) (30-9-1) at noon and third-seeded Coe (34-9) meets sixth-seeded Wis.-Whitewater (26-10).

Iowa Conference co-champion Luther also made the 60-team tournament field and is the top seed at an eight-team regional at Eau Claire, Wis.