INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division III Softball Committee has announced the 43 teams that will compete in the Division III Softball Championship.
Five teams will compete at five first-round sites and six teams will compete at three other first-round sites for a total of eight first-round sites. All first-rounds will use a double-elimination format.
The five-team opening rounds will be held May 13-15 on the campuses of competing institutions, with the rain date being May 16. The six-team first rounds will be held May 13-16, on the campuses of competing institutions, with the rain date being May 16. The finals, hosted by Peace College, will be held May 20-24 at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh, N.C.
Thirty-six conferences have been granted automatic qualification and five independents were selected for the 2005 championship. The two 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 – Pittsburgh-Bradford
American Southwest – Louisiana College
AWCC – Mary Baldwin
Centennial – Ursinus
CUNYAC – Staten Island
CCIW – North Central (Illinois)
Commonwealth – Moravian
Commonwealth Coast – Endicott
Empire 8 – Ithaca
Freedom – King’s (Pennsylvania)
Great Northeast – Western New England
Heartland Collegiate – Defiance
Iowa Intercollegiate – Coe
Lake Michigan – Edgewood
Little East – Keene State
MASCAC – Bridgewater State
Michigan Intercollegiate – Alma
Midwest – Lake Forest
MIAC – St. Thomas (Minnesota)
NESCAC – Williams
NEWMAC – Babson
NJAC – William Paterson
North Atlantic – Maine-Farmington
North Coast – Allegheny
Northern Illinois-Iowa – Aurora
Northwest – Linfield
OAC – Muskingum
Old Dominion – Roanoke
PAC – Misericordia
SLIAC – Fontbonne
Skyline – Manhattanville
SCIAC – Redlands
Southern Collegiate – Trinity (Texas)
SUNYAC – Cortland State
USA South – Ferrum
Wisconsin Intercollegiate – Wisconsin-Stout
SITES: *Indicates host institution
Seed No. 1 - Winner of first round at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
1. Washington U. in St. Louis (45-1)
2. St. Thomas (Minnesota) (36-6)
3. *Coe (36-4)
4. St. Mary’s (Minnesota) (36-6)
5. Fontbonne (32-11)
6. Wisconsin-Stout (25-19)
Seed No. 2 - Winner of first round at Ithaca, New York.
1. Union (New York) (30-4)
2. Cortland State (31-9)
3. Western New England (37-4)
4. Misericordia (30-9)
5. *Ithaca (24-11)
6. King’s (Pennsylvania) (31-10)
Seed No. 3 - Winner of first round at Redlands, California.
1. Chapman (31-7)
2. *Redlands (30-6)
3. Louisiana College (32-9)
4. Linfield (31-7)
5. Trinity (Texas) (26-20)
Seed No. 4 - Winner of first round at Salisbury, Maryland.
1. *Salisbury (37-4)
2. Moravian (34-6)
3. Roanoke (32-10)
4. Ferrum (25-13)
5. Mary Baldwin (15-22)
Seed No. 5 - Winner of first round at Alma, Michigan.
1. Aurora (38-4-1)
2. *Alma (29-8)
3. North Central (Illinois) (34-10)
4. Edgewood (29-12)
5. Allegheny (21-16)
Seed No. 6 - Winner of first round at New Concord, Ohio.
1. *Muskingum (38-5)
2. Thomas More (19-9)
3. Lake Forest (23-13-1)
4. Defiance (27-15)
5. Pittsburgh-Bradford (24-12-1)
Seed No. 7 - Winner of first round at Wayne, New Jersey.
1. Rutgers-Camden (33-6-1)
2. Manhattanville (30-9)
3. *William Paterson (34-9-1)
4. Ursinus (35-8)
5. Staten Island (23-14-1)
Seed No. 8 - Winner of first round at Babson Park, Massachusetts.
1. Endicott (33-2-1)
2. *Babson (37-6)
3. Keene State (31-6)
4. Williams (24-12)
5. Bridgewater State (23-15)
6. Maine-Farmington (19-12)
St. Thomas (Minnesota) won the 2004 NCAA Division III Softball Championship by defeating Moravian College in last year’s championship game.
