The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh softball team will be the top seed at the 2021 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Eau Claire Regional that begins Friday, May 21 at UW-Eau Claire’s Bollinger Fields.
The Titans (24-11) open the six-team, double-elimination tournament against sixth-seeded Illinois College (25-12). Game time is set for 10 a.m.
UWO, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season co-champion, secured an automatic berth into the 48-team Division III Championship by beating fellow WIAC regular season co-champion UW-Whitewater twice in the league’s best-of-three postseason series. The Titans are making their ninth trip to the national tournament and third in the past five years.
Illinois College, the Midwest Conference South Division regular season champion, also earned an automatic bid into the field after winning the final two games of the best-of-three championship series over South Division champion Lake Forest College (Ill.). The Lady Blues are in the Division III postseason for the first time.
Rounding out the Eau Claire Regional participants are second-seeded Alfred University (N.Y.), third-seeded Linfield College (Ore.), fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine and fifth-seeded Piedmont University (Ga.). Linfield College is ranked 11th in the country by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
UW Oshkosh is seeking its third regional title (1988, 2017). The Titans made previous regional appearances in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2017 and 2018.
The Eau Claire Regional continues Saturday, May 22 and concludes Sunday, May 23 The eight regional winners advance to play for the 2021 national title May 27-June 1 in Salem, Va.
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