PINEVILLE – Louisiana College head coach Tim Whitman learned early Monday morning that his softball team had received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Softball National Tournament. The fifth ranked Lady Wildcats will travel to Indianola, Iowa for the eight-team regional that will be hosted by Simpson University. Indianola is approximately 10 miles south of Des Moines.
By Louisiana College
Sports Information
PINEVILLE – Louisiana College head coach Tim Whitman
learned early Monday morning that his softball team had received an
at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Softball National Tournament. The
fifth ranked Lady Wildcats will travel to Indianola, Iowa for the
eight-team regional that will be hosted by Simpson University.
Indianola is approximately 10 miles south of Des Moines.
Despite being the top ranked team in the Atlantic
Region according to the last NCAA Regional rankings, LC (36-7) was sent
out of their region and are in a regional that features the defending
national champion and current top ranked team, St. Thomas (Minn.). LC
is the three-seed in the regional. Five of the eight teams are ranked
in the top 25.
“Well, we’re in,” Whitman said. “This is quite
possibly the toughest regional,” added Whitman. “St. Thomas is the
defending national champion. They’ve only lost one game to a Division
III opponent in the last two years, and that team is here too,
Wartburg.”
LC’s first round opponent is Fontbonne (Mo.)
University. Fontbonne (34-9), the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference Champion, enters the tournament hitting .335 as a team and
have three every-day players hitting .400 or better. Ashley Weaver
leads them on the mound with a 22-3 record and an ERA of 0.93. LC and
Fontbonne play Thursday at 2 p.m.
St. Thomas is the number one seed and will play the
number eight seed, Concordia (Wis.), at 10 a.m. Thursday. At noon,
Wartburg will play Simpson. After LC’s game, the number four seed,
Washington University of St. Louis will take on St. Scholastica.