Marlins Have Company in NCAA Softball Bracket, Joined by Yellow Jackets and Maroons

Posted: May 09, 2022

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The "best softball conference in Division III" will see three teams enter the national bracket following the announcement of the 2022 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament field on Monday afternoon. Reigning champion Virginia Wesleyan University, owners of the ODAC's automatic entry, will be joined by at-large selections Randolph-Macon College and Roanoke College among the 62-team field.

Like VWU, 43 of the tourney's programs received automatic qualification from their respective conferences. No schools received "Pool B" bids as independent teams or squads that compete in leagues that do not feature automatic NCAA qualification. The remaining 19 teams received at-large bids from "Pool C," which includes all teams that did not receive AQ or Pool B entries. It is from the latter pool that Randolph-Macon and Roanoke earned their selections from the Division III Softball Championship Committee.

Virginia Wesleyan (33-11) begins its title defense on the road along with Roanoke (30-12). Randolph-Macon (32-9) will host a four-team double-elimination regional pod. All three ODAC schools appear in different sections of the bracket, leaving open the possibility for each to return to the friendly confines of the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va., host of the championship finals for the second straight year.

The Marlins, situated in the upper-left quadrant of the bracket, travel to Amherst College (23-8) for regional play. That pod also includes Husson University (25-9) and the University of Rochester (27-13). The host Mammoths earned their position after claiming the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship. The Husson Eagles, from Bangor, Maine, secured the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) title and open with Amherst. Virginia Wesleyan's first opponent will be the Rochester Yellowjackets, which won the Liberty League championship.

Randolph-Macon is positioned on the same side of the bracket as VWU, but in the lower quadrant. The Yellow Jackets welcome three teams to Ashland for a four-team regional. They open with Farmingdale State College (28-5). The other first-day matchup features Susquehanna University (25-7) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Rams donned the Skyline Conference crown to setup a date with R-MC. The River Hawks hoisted the Landmark Conference trophy, while the Engineers (30-16) received an at-large bid after falling to WPI in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship game.

Roanoke, which appears in the lower-right quadrant of the bracket, is headed to Cleveland, Ohio, for competition at Case Western Reserve University. The Maroons meet Concordia University Wisconsin (34-4) in their opening game. The Falcons won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) championship on Sunday. The host Spartans (26-9) take on The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in their first game. CWRU is an at-large pick out of the University Athletics Association (UAA), while the Lions (26-9) also picked up an at-large nod after falling in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title contest.

Tournament play begins with regional play on Friday-Sunday, May 13-15. Fifteen regionals are four-team pods, but one regional is just two teams featuring Texas Lutheran University and Chapman University (Calif.). The 16 regional winners advance to super regionals on Friday-Saturday, May 20-21. There will be two teams per super regional playing best-of-three series to advance to the final round.

The remaining eight teams in the bracket will head to the Moyer Complex in Salem from Thursday-Tuesday, May 26-31. This will be the second straight season and 14th time overall that Salem will honor the Division III softball champion. The ODAC and City of Salem will serve as hosts.

Game times and ticket information will be announced later this week. For more information, visit the websites of any of the participating schools. You can also go to the home of the ODAC 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.