Central to NCAA softball tourney
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA—Central College jumped off the bubble and back to the NCAA Division III Softball Championships as the Dutch were awarded their record 29th tournament berth in the past 33 seasons Monday.
The field–Part of a 62-team field, Central (27-10) will travel to the four-team, double-elimination St. Paul, Minnesota Regional and takes on Wis.-Oshkosh (25-12) Thursday. In Thursday’s other first-round game, top-seeded host, the University of St. Thomas (34-8), meets the No. 4 seed, the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) (25-14). The tourney concludes Saturday.
The regional winner advances to the super regional May 18-19 against the winner of the Decorah, Iowa Regional, which features Iowa Conference tournament champ Luther College (35-8). Another league school, regular-season champ Coe College (26-12) is at the Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional.
The eight super regional winners move on to the national finals May 24-29 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Ithaca College (N.Y.) also cracked the NCAA field and shares the record for most appearances with Central at 29.
Off the bubble–While Central is ranked No. 17 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 and finished second in the league, uncertainty still surrounded Monday’s pairings announcement. Luther won an automatic NCAA berth by winning the conference tournament after earlier ousting the Dutch 9-1 in six innings Saturday at Cedar Rapids. That loss, combined with a limited number of at-large berths due to several upsets in other league tourneys around the country, created some anxiety.
Tournament history–Central has played host to regional tournaments in its past six appearances, last going on the road for regional action in 2010. The Dutch did play away from home in the national finals in 2013.
St. Thomas is making its 26th tournament appearance and has posted a 72-40 record with two Division III titles. Wis.-Oshkosh is in the field for the eighth time and the second year in a row. The Titans have a 13-15 tourney mark. Northwestern-St. Paul is making its first NCAA appearance.
