Confirming what had been assumed for over a week, the IUP softball team has been selected to host one of the two regional pods in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional tournament beginning Friday at Podbielski Field.
The Crimson Hawks are the top-seed in the eight-team tournament which is broken up into two pods. On IUP's side of the bracket, the PSAC champion Crimson Hawks (33-6) will take on eighth-seed Winston-Salem State (29-11) in the opening game Friday at 11 a.m. The Rams earned an automatic bid by winning the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title.
The other opening-day game will feature fourth-seed California (28-12) against fifth-seed Kutztown (39-14) at 1:30. The Vulcans are in the NCAA tournament for the 20th time and won the national championship in 1997 and 1998. Kutztown is in the field for the 14th time including each of the past nine years.
The winners of Friday's games will play in game three Saturday at 11 a.m., with the winner advancing to the championship game Sunday. The losers of Friday's contests will play in game four Saturday at 1:30, with the winner facing the loser of game three at 4 p.m.
The championship game takes place Sunday at noon. Should the remaining undefeated team lose, a seventh game will immediately follow to determine the champion.
In the other Atlantic Regional pod, second-seed Bloomsburg plays seventh-seeded Shippensburg and third-seed West Virginia Wesleyan plays sixth-seed Lock Haven. West Virginia Wesleyan won the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and has 46 wins on the season, the most by any team in the regional.
The survivors of the two regional pods will play in the NCAA Super Regionals May 20-21 at a site to be determined. As the top seed in the tournament, IUP will host the Super Regional should it make it through this weekend's play.
The winners of the eight Super Regionals advance to the College World Series May 26-30 in Salem, Va. IUP is seeking the first regional title and College World Series appearance in school history.
The Crimson Hawks, ranked No. 11 in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, are in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season and eighth time overall. IUP has won 12 postseason games in their previous seven appearances and advanced to the championship game last season.
IUP enters the NCAA tournament after capturing the first PSAC softball title in school history, winning all six games by a combined score of 34-4. Included in the run was a 3-1 victory over Kutztown April 29, the only game the Crimson Hawks played this season against a team in their bracket. Regular season doubleheaders against Kutztown and California were rained out.
The Crimson Hawks were 5-3 against teams competing in the Bloomsburg pod. IUP split four games against Lock Haven and a pair against the Huskies in PSAC Central play and defeated Shippensburg twice in the PSAC tournament.
