INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- For the second straight year, three teams from ODAC member schools will play in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, as announced on www.ncaa.com on Monday afternoon. Reigning national champion Virginia Wesleyan University will be joined by both Randolph-Macon College and Lynchburg College on the national stage.
The softball field is 62 teams large in 2018. Forty-two schools earned entry like Virginia Wesleyan as automatic qualifiers from their respective conferences. One team was picked as a true independent, while LC and R-MC account for two of the 19 at-large choices to the field. All rounds of the tournament are played under some version of double elimination format, whether that be pod play like in the regionals or a best two out of three series like the super regionals and national championship series.
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All three ODAC schools will hit the road for regional competition. Virginia Wesleyan will make the quick jog west on I-64 to Christopher Newport University. Lynchburg, in the same super regional pod as the Marlins, travel south to Atlanta for regional play at Emory University. Randolph-Macon is on the opposite side of the bracket from both VWU and LC. The Yellow Jackets head north to New Jersey for regional action at Rowan University.
Virginia Wesleyan (45-2) remains the nation's top-ranked team entering the national tournament. The Marlins open with Gettysburg College (24-14). The Bullets earned their spot by winning the Centennial Conference title. Host Christopher Newport (35-8) meets Messiah College (27-16) in the other opening match. The Captains, ranked eighth in Division III, won the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) championship, while the Falcons won the Commonwealth Conference crown.
Lynchburg (30-12) begins its national tourney path with #4 Berry College (36-4). The Vikings earned an automatic bid after capturing the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) championship. Hosted Emory (28-10) meets up with Maryville College (Tenn.)(29-12) to round out the four-team pod. The Falcons are receiving votes in the latest NFCA poll just outside the listed top-25. They received the field's lone Pool "B" selection as an independent qualifier. The Scots won the USA South title and its automatic bid.
The winner of the CNU and Emory regional pods will meet in the super regional round at a site to be determined. That could setup a meeting between Virginia Wesleyan and Lynchburg for a spot in the national final eight.
Randolph-Macon (38-5) is currently ranked fifth by the NFCA. The Yellow Jackets open with the College of Staten Island (23-10). The Dolphins won the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) championship. Host Rowan (33-10-1) takes on Pennsylvania State University at Berks (24-8-1). The Profs, ranked #23 in the country, won the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title. The Nittany Lions are in after securing the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship.
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The regional round is set for May 11-13 followed by super regional play on May 18-19. The final eight teams in the country will head to USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla., to determine a national champion May 24-29.
For more information, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.