The NCAA Division III Softball Committee has announced the 59 teams that will compete in the Division III Softball Championship.
Seven teams will compete at five first-round sites and eight teams will compete at three first-round sites for a total of eight first-round sites. All first-rounds will use a double-elimination format.
The seven-team first rounds will be held May 11-14 on the campuses of competing institutions. The eight-team first rounds will be held May 11-15 on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals, hosted by Peace College, will be held May 19-23 at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Thirty-five conferences have been granted automatic qualification and six independents were selected for the 2006 championship. The 18 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining independent institutions.
The conferences and teams that received automatic qualification were:
Allegheny Mountain CC – Penn State-Behrend
American Southwest – Hardin-Simmons
AWCC – Hood
Centennial – Haverford
CUNYAC – Hunter
CCIW – Augustana (Illinois)
Commonwealth – Moravian
Commonwealth Coast – Endicott
Empire 8 – Ithaca
Freedom – Wilkes
Great Northeast – Western New England
Heartland Collegiate – Transylvania
Iowa Intercollegiate – Wartburg
Lake Michigan – Concordia (Wisconsin)
Little East – Rhode Island College
MASCAC – Bridgewater State
Michigan Intercol. – Hope
Midwest – Lake Forest
Minnesota Intercol. – St. Thomas (Minnesota)
NESCAC – Williams
NEWMAC – Babson
NJAC – Rutgers-Camden
North Atlantic – Elms
North Coast – Denison
Northwest – Linfield
OAC – Muskingum
Old Dominion – Roanoke
Pennsylvania AC – Neumann
Skyline – St. Joseph's College (Long Island)
SCIAC – Redlands
SLIAC – Fontbonne
Southern Collegiate – Trinity (Texas)
SUNYAC –Plattsburgh State
USA South – Methodist
Wisconsin Intercollegiate – Wisconsin-Eau Claire
SITES:
*Indicates host institution
Seed No. 1 - Winner of first round at Camden, New Jersey.
1. *Rutgers-Camden (40-5)
2. Rowan (38-5)
3. Tufts (25-14)
4. Pittsburgh-Bradford (34-7)
5. Manhattanville (29-12)
6. Wilkes (26-13)
7. Hunter (17-16)
Seed No. 2 - Winner of first round at Salem, Virginia.
1. Muskingum (39-4)
2. *Roanoke (35-5)
3. Emory (33-9)
4. Transylvania (31-10)
5. Piedmont (31-9)
6. Thomas More (25-13)
7. Denison (32-11)
8. Hood (23-13)
Seed No. 3 - Winner of first round at Indianola, Iowa.
1. St. Thomas (Minnesota) (41-2)
2. Wartburg (36-5)
3. Louisiana College (32-5)
4. Washington U. in St. Louis (35-5)
5. St. Scholastica (36-7)
6. Fontbonne (34-9)
7. *Simpson (28-12)
8. Concordia (Wisconsin) (21-21)
Seed No. 4 - Winner of first round at Rock Island, Illinois.
1. Wisconsin-Eau Claire (34-4)
2. *Augustana (Illinois) (33-8)
3. Coe (34-10)
4. Aurora (36-9)
5. Central (Iowa) (32-11)
6. Chicago (19-13)
7. Hope (30-12)
8. Lake Forest (24-13)
Seed No. 5 - Winner of first round at Ithaca, New York.
1. Plattsburgh (37-7)
2. *Ithaca (35-4)
3. Rensselaer (34-4)
4. Union (29-5)
5. Western Connecticut (26-16)
6. Elms (27-10)
7. Penn-Behrend (30-6)
Seed No. 6 - Winner of first round at Babson Park, Massachusetts.
1. Williams (29-8)
2. Rhode Island College (33-8-1)
3. Western New England (36-9)
4. *Babson (33-10)
5. Endicott (28-13)
6. Bridgewater State (26-19)
7. St. Joseph's (Long Island) (21-10)
Seed No. 7 - Winner of first round at Redlands, California.
1. Chapman (27-8)
2. Linfield (29-8)
3. *Redlands (29-11)
4. Trinity (Texas) (29-12)
5. La Verne (30-10)
6. Whitworth (26-12)
7. Hardin-Simmons (29-10)
Seed No. 8 - Winner of first round at Salisbury, Maryland.
1. Methodist (38-6)
2. *Salisbury (32-6)
3. Ramapo (32-12)
4. Moravian (33-7)
5. King's (Pennsylvania) (36-7)
6. Neumann (25-9)
7. Haverford (24-15)
St. Thomas (Minnesota) won the 2005 NCAA Division III Softball Championship by defeating Salisbury 9-3 in last year’s championship game.
