2019 NCAA Softball Division III Super Regionals Preview

2019 NCAA Softball Division III Super Regionals Preview

2019 NCAA Softball Division III Super Regionals Preview

May 14, 2019 by Chez Sievers
2019 NCAA Softball Division III Super Regionals Preview

Six teams outside of the Top 25 made it to the Sweet Sixteen sending top-seeded teams like Virginia Wesleyan, East Texas Baptist, Birmingham Southern, and more packing. 

We take a look at the matchups of the Sweet Sixteen teams.


Trine

Senior Lainey McCue's biggest home run of the weekend was all the scoring the Trine University softball team would need as they came away with the 1-0 win over DePauw University to return as regional champions. The 2019 Regional Championship is the fourth in Trine University history.

SUNY Geneseo

The SUNY Geneseo softball team earned a pair of victories over host Thomas More, defeating the No. 12 Saints, 3-0, in game one and 5-4 in game two to win the NCAA Regional and advance to the NCAA Division III Softball Super-Regionals for the first time in program history. Hannah Elmer, Danni Napoli, and Alyssa Persich were named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team while Ashlyn Kersch was named the Regional MVP. 


Illinois Wesleyan

For the fourth straight season, the Illinois Wesleyan softball team will advance to the Super Regional round after an 8-0, six-inning victory over Calvin College in the final game of the Bloomington, Ill. regional final on Saturday, May 11. With the win, the Titans improved to 36-7 and will play in the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Super Regional round against Carthage. Junior pitcher Ally Wiegand was selected as the regional's "Most Outstanding Player" and was joined on the all-regional team by juniors Mia Massaro, Shelby Fulk, and Sam Berghoff. In the three games, Massaro hit .778, Berghoff hit .750 with two home runs and six RBI and Fulk batted .667. Wiegand was 2-0 with 21 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings, allowing only three hits with a 0.68 earned run average.

Carthage

Milestones bestowed the Carthage College softball team in their NCAA Division III Regional Championship Game against #23 UW-Whitewater at Van Steenderen Field in Whitewater, Wisconsin on Sunday. Stefanie Guercio rang up her single-season program record 226th strikeout in the third inning, while her offense supported her with four home runs en route to a 9-0 (5 Innings) blasting of UW-Whitewater. The Lady Reds will advance to their first-ever NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Super Regional against Illinois Wesleyan University.


Ithaca

The Ithaca College softball team will be making an appearance in the NCAA Super Regional for the second straight year in 2019. Due to weather, the Bombers were unable to play Brandeis in the NCAA Regional final, which was originally scheduled for Sunday. The game was then moved to Monday, but persistent rain forced the game to be called, advancing IC to the next round. Ithaca went 2-0 in the regional with an 8-0, six-inning win against Farmingdale State and a 3-2 win over Penn State-Berks.

Williams

With the count of one ball and two strikes, Williams senior Mackenzie Murphy took ball two. She took ball three. She fouled off the first 3-2 pitch. And another. And a third. And then Murphy struck, sending a ball into orbit, soaring over the 215-foot sign in left-center and into the rainy mist. Her two-out, two-strike, three-run, bottom-of-the-seventh home run tied Monday's NCAA Tournament, Div. III Regional championship game at 8-all. Two innings later, Murphy's walk-off single into right field scored classmate Kristina Alvrado as the Eph captured the 2019 NCAA Div. III Tournament Cortland, N.Y. Regional championship with a 9-8 victory over SUNY-Cortland. Murphy's single put the exclamation point on a remarkable, albeit crazy, weekend for the Ephs (36-5), who will face Ithaca College in an NCAA Tournament Super Regional next weekend. 


Emory

The Emory softball team fought off its third elimination game in two days on Monday, using a dramatic eighth-inning walk-off single by senior Cassie Bacato come away with a 5-4 victory over host Piedmont in the winner-take-all game of the NCAA Demorest Regional. The win boosts No. 18 Emory's record to 34-11 while the Lions closed out their season with a ledger of 31-12.

Lynchburg

Mackenzie Chitwood homered three times as the Hornets topped two-time defending national champion and top-ranked Virginia Wesleyan twice, 7-4 and 4-2, to win the regional tournament and move on to the super-regional round for the second time in program history. The Ferrum, Va., native won Most Outstanding Player honors for the tournament, and senior third baseman Taylor Mabry, senior right-handed pitcher Taylor Belknap and sophomore right-handed pitcher Kayley Cox earned spots on the all-tournament team.


Linfield

Tournament MVP Darian Stedman keyed matching victories Saturday over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Whittier, and the Linfield Wildcats completed a clean sweep of the NCAA Division III Claremont Regional at Athena Field.

Texas Lutheran

The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs are NCAA Division III regional champions after a pair of wins Sunday at the Marshall, Texas Regional at East Texas Baptist University. In their sixth consecutive regional appearance, TLU broke through for a regional title by defeating host ETBU 6-1 in the early game to advance to the championship round of the three-team, double-elimination tournament.


Christopher Newport

The Captains closed out the Kean Regional of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship by beating the host team, 6-4, Sunday night. Keith Parr's squad will now advance to the Super Regional Round of the tournament for the first time since 2015. Sophomore designated player Patty Maye Ohanian was selected the Most Outstanding Player of the regional after going 8-for-11 with four home runs and nine runs batted in. Ohanian was one-for-three Sunday night with an RBI single, a steal of home, and a walk. Junior pitcher Aubrey Bates, freshman third baseman Bailey Roberts, and freshman outfielder Keely Crittenden were also chosen for the All-Regional squad.

Randolph-Macon

The Yellow Jackets advanced to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament after non-stop rain and poor field conditions forced the end of the Ewing, N.J. Regional at The College of New Jersey. With Randolph-Macon going undefeated this weekend, the Yellow Jackets were declared the champions of the Regional and will advance to face Christopher Newport, the winner of the Union, N.J. Regional.


St. Thomas

Junior Kierstin Anderson-Glass threw a three-hitter and won as a starter for the 15th time in a row as No. 3-ranked St. Thomas won the NCAA regional title with Saturday's 6-1 victory over No. 25-ranked UW-Eau Claire at South Field. Read more

Wisconsin - La Crosse

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team captured the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Pella, Iowa Regional Sunday afternoon with a 10-3 victory over Lake Forest College (Ill.). The Eagles improve to 29-18 on the season and advance to the NCAA Division III Super Regional on May 17-18 versus third-ranked the University of St. Thomas (Minn.). Location and times will be announced as the teams will play a best-of-three series.   


Rowan

The Rowan University softball team won the NCAA Cambridge Regional title with a 7-6 victory in 14 innings over Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday. Rowan (33-13) plays Eastern Connecticut State University (32-11) in the Super Regional on Friday-Saturday, May 17-18. Right-hander Jesse DeDomenico (jr. East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown) was the winning pitcher in relief.  She (19-7) threw 8.1 innings, scattered six hits and did not give up any runs.  DeDomenico also had three hits, a double and one run.  She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional. 

Eastern Connecticut State

Sticking to the script which produced a conference championship and carried it to the brink of a regional title, the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team utilized dominant pitching, near-perfect defense and sufficient hitting once again to vanquish top-seeded host Tufts University, 5-1, to claim its 14th  NCAA Division III regional championship Monday morning at Spicer Field. Sophomore righty and tournament MVP Morgan Bolduk (Vernon) held firm, and the defense behind her made the final four innings all but academic as the Warriors won for the second time in the tournament over Tufts. Bolduk allowed only six baserunners while fanning two and walking one. She threw 65 of her 85 pitches for strikes. Tufts is ranked second in New England.