UW-Whitewater And Eau Claire Earn Bids
Monday, May 6th, 2013 -- 1:39 PM
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater have earned bids into the 2013 NCAA Division III Softball Championship and will compete in an eight-team, double-elimination regional hosted by UW-Whitewater at van Steenderen Field beginning this Thursday.UW-Eau Claire (26-7) claimed one of 21 at-large invitations into the 62-team field, while UW-Whitewater (31-5) received an automatic bid after winning the WIAC tournament title. This will mark the sixth time in the last seven years that the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has had multiple teams earn spots in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
The Blugolds are making the 11th NCAA appearance in program history - and third consecutive - and will meet North Central College (Ill.) (32-10) in their opening game. UW-Eau Claire won the NCAA Division III championship in 2008.
The Warhawks, meanwhile are appearing in NCAA competition for the 16th time in program archives - and fourth in the last six seasons - and will open the regional against Finlandia University (Mich.) (25-6).
Also competing in the Whitewater Regional will be Luther College (Iowa) (28-9), Carthage College (Wis.) (30-10), Benedictine University (Ill.) (26-12) and Illinois Wesleyan University (31-9). The winner of the Whitewater Regional will advance to the eight-team, double-elimination finals that will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire at Carson Park from May 17-21.
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