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 first-rounds will use a double-elimination format. 

The seven-team first rounds will be held May 10-13 on the campuses of competing institutions. The eight-team first rounds will be held May 10-14 on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals, hosted by the City of Salem, Virginia and Old Dominion Athletic Conference, will be held May 18-22 at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia. 

Thirty-six conferences have been granted automatic qualification and six independents were selected for the 2007 championship. The 17 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining independent institutions. 

The conferences and teams that received automatic qualification were: 

Allegheny Mountain CC – Pittsburgh-Bradford 
American Southwest – Hardin-Simmons 
AWCC – Hood 
Centennial – Gettysburg 
CUNYAC – Staten Island 
CCIW – Augustana (Illinois) 
Commonwealth – Moravian 
Commonwealth Coast – Endicott 
Empire 8 – Ithaca 
Freedom – King’s (Pennsylvania) 
Great Northeast – Emerson 
Great South – LaGrange 
Heartland Collegiate – Anderson (Indiana) 
Iowa Intercollegiate – Wartburg 
Little East – Rhode Island College 
MASCAC – Framingham State 
Michigan Intercol. – Alma 
Midwest – St. Norbert 
Minnesota Intercol. – St. Thomas (Minnesota) 
NEAC – Keuka 
NESCAC – Tufts 
NEWMAC – Wellesley 
NJAC – Rutgers-Camden 
North Atlantic – Elms 
North Coast – Allegheny 
Northwest – Linfield 
OAC – Muskingum 
Old Dominion – Lynchburg 
Pennsylvania AC – Misericordia 
Skyline – Manhattanville 
SCIAC – Redlands 
SLIAC – Webster 
Southern Collegiate – Trinity (Texas) 
SUNYAC –Cortland State 
USA South – Methodist 
Wisconsin Intercollegiate – Wisconsin-Eau Claire 


SITES: 

Seed No. 1 - Winner of first round at Pineville, Louisiana. 
*Indicates host institution 
1. *Louisiana College (33-9) 
2. Linfield (35-5) 
3. Mississippi College (36-8) 
4. Trinity (Texas) (25-10) 
5. Chapman (28-11) 
6. Redlands (27-10) 
7. Hardin-Simmons (29-14) 

Seed No. 2 - Winner of first round at Decorah, Iowa. 
1. St. Thomas (Minnesota) (41-2) 
2. Washington U. in St. Louis (28-5) 
3. *Luther (34-5) 
4. Wartburg (27-6) 
5. Wisconsin-Stevens Point (32-8) 
6. Gustavus Adolphus (31-8) 
7. Webster (24-16) 

Seed No. 3 - Winner of first round at Eau Claire, Wisconsin 
1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (34-9) 
2. Illinois Wesleyan (31-12) 
3. Augustana (Illinois) (30-12) 
4. Chicago (25-9) 
5. Coe (27-12) 
6. *Wisconsin-Eau Claire (31-12) 
7. St. Norbert (20-12) 

Seed No. 4 - Winner of first round at New Concord, Ohio. 
1. *Muskingum (34-9) 
2. DePauw (32-5) 
3. Alma (29-11) 
4. Anderson (Indiana) (23-12) 
5. Bridgewater (Virginia) (37-6) 
6. Maryville (Tennessee) (23-11) 
7. Allegheny (18-17) 
8. Hood (14-19) 

Seed No. 5 - Winner of first round at Montclair, New Jersey. 
1. Moravian (32-5) 
2. *Montclair State (35-6) 
3. King’s Pennsylvania (33-7) 
4. Ramapo (30-8) 
5. Gettysburg (24-13) 
6. Staten Island (27-11) 
7. Manhattanville (27-8) 

Seed No. 6 - Winner of first round at Providence, Rhode Island. 
1. *Rhode Island College (37-5) 
2. Tufts (29-10) 
3. Wellesley (22-12) 
4. Keene State (27-8) 
5. Endicott (30-10) 
6. Misericordia (29-18) 
7. Emerson (22-16) 
8. Framingham (21-19) 

Seed No. 7 - Winner of first round at Cortland, New York. 
1. Rochester (26-5) 
2. *Cortland (35-8) 
3. Ithaca (33-7) 
4. Plattsburgh State (31-11) 
5. Keuka (24-4) 
6. Pittsburgh-Bradford (20-16) 
7. Elms (18-11) 

Seed No. 8 - Winner of first round at Fayetteville, North Carolina. 
1. *Methodist (32-8) 
2. Marietta (32-10) 
3. Rutgers-Camden (31-13) 
4. Salisbury (36-7) 
5. Emory (28-6) 
6. Christopher Newport (33-8) 
7. Lynchburg (33-11) 
8. LaGrange (26-18) 

Rutgers-Camden won the 2006 NCAA Division III Softball Championship by defeating St. Thomas (Minnesota) 3-2 in last year’s championship game. The championship was the first for Rutgers-Camden in the history of the school. 

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

-Courtesy NCAA