UW-L Earns Bid to NCAA III Tournament; Faces Wartburg in First Game

For Immediate Release: Monday, May 4, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. – With its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament championship victory May 3 at UW-Superior, the UW-La Crosse softball team (34-10) has earned an automatic bid to the 2009 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament.

The Eagles will travel to Indianola, Iowa for the first round of the national tournament at Simpson College scheduled for Thursday, May 7 through Monday, May 11.

UW-L faces Wartburg College (36-6) in the opening round May 7 at 2 p.m. The first round follows a double-elimination format.

In the other first round games scheduled for May 7, top-seed the University of St. Thomas, Minn. (39-4) faces eighth-seed Webster University, Mo. (23-16) at noon. Second-seed Central College, Iowa (36-6) plays seventh-seed Gustavus Adolphus College, Minn. (35-7) at 6 p.m. and third-seed Washington University, Mo. (24-11) plays sixth-seed Luther College, Iowa (33-9) at 4 p.m.

For the complete Simpson College First Round bracket, click here.

Eight first round winners advance to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship scheduled for May 15-19 in Montclair, New Jersey.

UW-L, which went 4-0 in the WIAC Tournament, earned the league’s automatic bid after a 2-0 win over UW-Superior May 3.

The Eagles will be making their second appearance in the NCAA III Tournament and first since 1986. The team went 2-2 in the 1986 Midwest Regional at UW-Whitewater. UW-L opened the regional with a 5-2 loss to Aurora University (Ill.) before coming back to defeat UW-Whitewater 4-0. The Eagles then defeated Aurora 3-1 before being eliminated with a 3-0 loss to UW-Whitewater.