D 3 softball

[WLCALUM83]

Seguin update:  Texas Lutheran 7, Emory & Henry 0  Top of 3rd.

[WLCALUM83]

Seguin Final:  Texas Lutheran 10, Emory & Henry 2  5 innings. (Metzer 3-run HR, Padilla solo HR, Hernandez Game ending RBI double
                      provided a good chunk of offense for the home-standing squad)

                      The Bulldogs are going to the D3 Softball World Series! Congratulations!

[WLCALUM83]

Here they are, all 8 of the teams going to Salem, VA later this week:

Millikin region:  DePauw
Waverly region:  St. Thomas-MN
Eau Claire region:  UW-Oshkosh
Marshall-TX region:  Birmingham-Southern
Seguin-TX region:   Texas Lutheran
VA Wesleyan region: VA Wes     (closest to home field advantage)
PSU-Behrend region:  Rochester
Husson region:  Tufts

[cubs]

Eau Claire - The team ranked #1 in this regional is a 5 seed in the Great Lakes region; go figure.  Have to go with Linfield to win this one.

Maybe the Great Lakes Regional Committee had UW Oshkosh seeded too low?  Or did the six team field in Eau Claire lack quality teams to challenge UW Oshkosh?

[WLCALUM83]

Linfield was #4 in the West Regional Rankings, UW-Oshkosh #5 in the Great Lakes, Alfred was #2 ranked in the Northeast Region and Southern Maine was #7  in the New England Region. Only Piedmont and Illinois College were not regionally ranked.  (Both of those squads got in as AQs after winning their respective conference tournaments.)

I was surprised that Linfield was sent to Wisconsin, (most other years that West Region power squad more likely would go to Texas to play).

[Caz Bombers]

thank you WLCALUM83 and Deiscanton for all your updates the last few weeks. +K to you both

[cubs]

So if I am looking at things correctly, four #1 seeds, a #2 seed, two #3 seeds, and a #5 seed make up this year's College World Series?

[PauldingLightUP]

World Series Bracket is out. 1 DePauw vs 8 UW Oshkosh and 4 Texas Lutheran vs 5 Tufts. 2 Virginia Wesleyan vs 7 St. Thomas and 3 Birmingham Southern vs 6 Rochester.

[WLCALUM83]

DePauw's Cami Henry and UW-Oshkosh's Maddie Fink both pitched lights out throughout their respective regionals--If that trend continues, and Fink's pitching can hold off DePauw's strong offense-- extra inning low-scoring game perhaps?? DePauw, stats wise, has shown a stronger offense than that of the Titans in regional play.

VA Wes/St. Thomas-MN:  Tommie pitcher Anderson-Glass also pitched very well in her regional-however, the Marlins have the closest thing to a home field advantage. Furthermore, they also have 2 good pitchers of their own in Emily Seale and Hanna Hull. A Hull/Anderson-Glass pitching match-up will be very interesting if both pitchers are on their "A" games. A high scoring game favors VA Wes.   

TX Lutheran/Tufts:  Bulldogs' offense scored 42 runs in their regional wins- Jumbo offense scored only 7 runs total in the 4 wins they got in the Husson regional. Tufts pitchers Haghdan, DiCocco and Van Meter will need to continue their strong Husson-regional hurling performances. If the Bulldogs are able to get a big lead early and hide, like they did in most of their regional games, it'll be tough for the Jumbos. If this one is a low-scoring pitcher's duel, it's also a toss-up.

Birmingham Southern/Rochester:  Both squads have 2 good starting pitchers each that they can turn to. Generally, a high scoring game favors Rochester, who stats-wise has shown that they are more of a long-ball threat offensively than the Alabama squad.

[WLCALUM83]

So if I am looking at things correctly, four #1 seeds, a #2 seed, two #3 seeds, and a #5 seed make up this year's College World Series?

Tufts (the lone 5th seed in the World Series) was 4th in the New England Regional Rankings, however, 10 of the 12 New England regionally ranked teams got in this year--(exceptions being Williams and Springfield) The top 5 New England regionally ranked teams were placed in Tufts' regional, so something had to give somewhere.

[justafan12]

thank you WLCALUM83 and Deiscanton for all your updates the last few weeks. +K to you both

2 Thumbs up!!!!

[justafan12]

Just a question after the fact.  Why does D3 softball use that goofy 6 team bracket where there are 3 first round games while D2 uses a standard 6 team bracket with the top 2 seeds getting a bye?  Who makes the decision on this?

[Caz Bombers]

Just a question after the fact.  Why does D3 softball use that goofy 6 team bracket where there are 3 first round games while D2 uses a standard 6 team bracket with the top 2 seeds getting a bye?,   Who makes the decision on this?

I have a theory. First, this year in D3 was a one-off return to the old way of bracketing. In d2, the regional ranking is like the word of God. So giving the top two seeds that bye advantage makes sense. Those regions aren't allowed to overlap at all. D3 has a ton of overlap, but little interconference action this season. Our regional rankings were basically just guesses. Not enough of a basis to hand out a first day bye.

[justafan12]

1st round games; I'll take:

Depauw
TLU
VWU
BSU

[deiscanton]

Schedule for the DIII Softball National Championships-- (informally known as the DIII Softball World Series)

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Pod 1 (4 team double elimination)

Game 1-- #1 DePauw vs #8 UW-Oshkosh -- DePauw 2, UW-Oshkosh 1.
Game 2-- #4 Texas Lutheran vs #5 Tufts-- TLU 4, Tufts 3.

Pod 2 (4 team double elimination)

Game 1-- #2 Virginia Wesleyan vs #7 St. Thomas (MN)-- Virginia Wesleyan 3, St. Thomas (MN) 0
Game 2-- #3 Birmingham-Southern vs #6 Rochester-- Birmingham Southern 3, Rochester 2 (F/9 innings).

The Pod 1 and Pod 2 winners (i.e. the last team standing in each pod) will play each other in a Best of 3 series for the National Championship.

Friday, May 28, 2021

Elimination bracket games

10 AM Eastern-- Pod 1 Game 3  (UW-Oshkosh v Tufts)

12:30 PM Eastern-- Pod 2 Game 3 (St. Thomas (MN) v Rochester)

Winners bracket games

3:30 PM Eastern-- Pod 1 Game 4 (DePauw v Texas Lutheran)

6 PM Eastern-- Pod 2 Game 4 (Virginia Wesleyan v Birmingham-Southern)

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Elimination games only--

1 PM Eastern-- Pod 1 Game 5 (Winner of P1G3 vs Loser of P1G4)

3:30 PM Eastern-- Pod 2 Game 5  (Winner of P2G3 vs Loser of P2G4)

Sunday, May 30, 2021-- Pod Championship Day

Noon Eastern-- Pod 1 Game 6 (Winner of P1G4 vs Winner of P1G5)

2:30 PM Eastern-- Pod 2 Game 6 (Winner of P2G4 vs Winner of P2G5)

5:30 PM Eastern-- Pod 1 Game 7 (if winner of P1G5 wins P1G6)

8 PM Eastern-- Pod 2 Game 7 (if winner of P2G5 wins P2G6)

Best of 3 National Championship Series between the Pod Champions for the DIII Softball National Championship

Game 1-- Monday, May 31, 2021-- 3 PM Eastern

Game 2-- Tuesday, June 1, 2021-- 11 AM Eastern

Game 3 (if necessary) Tuesday, June 1, 2021-- 1:30 PM Eastern