Virginia Wesleyan to Face Christopher Newport in Opening Round

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Virginia Wesleyan College will be the lone representative from the ODAC in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, as announced in the NCAA selection show on Monday afternoon.  The Marlins earned their place in the NCAA field by winning the ODAC Tournament as the sixth seed.  VWC took the shortest route to the title, winning four games including the final against Randolph College, 7-0.

The NCAA Division III Softball Tournament features 60 teams from across the nation.  Automatic bids went out to each of 41 winners of conferences with automatic qualification, including Virginia Wesleyan. Two institutions were selected from Pool B, which includes independent institutions and institutions from conferences that do not meet the automatic qualification criteria.  The 17 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining institutions in Pool C.

The Marlins (29-9) will travel to Salisbury, Md., to play in an eight-team regional hosted by Salisbury University.  Double-elimination play will begin on Thursday, May 12 and continue thru Monday, May 16.  VWC will face fifth seeded Christopher Newport University (31-10) in the first round.

The remaining six teams in the SU Regional (click HERE for the regional website) are #2 Emory University (40-2-1), Kean University (16-25), #10 Salisbury (33-4), Farmingdale State College (32-5), Shenandoah University (30-15) and #20 Rowan University (28-9).  All national rankings were taken from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top 25 Poll from May 5.

The winner of the SU regional will join seven other regional champions from across the nation for the 2011 NCAA Division III Softball Championship in Salem, Va.  The championship event hosted by the City of Salem and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference will be played from Friday, May 20 thru Tuesday, May 24.  It will also be played under a double-elimination format.

For more information on the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, including full interactive and printable brackets (as they become available), visit the championship website hosted by the NCAA at http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-softbl/champpage/w-softbl-div3-index.html. 

Click HERE for the full interactive championship bracket.