Softball | 5/18/2021 3:34:38 PM
Empire 8 Champion Alfred University and runner-up St. John Fisher College will compete in the 2021 NCAA Division III Softball Championship. Regional play gets underway on both Thursday, May 20 and Friday, May 21. Alfred is the No. 2 seed in the Wisconsin Eau-Claire regional, while St. John Fisher is the top-seed in the Penn State-Behrend region.
There are 48 teams competing in eight, six-team double-elimination regional championships this weekend. Each regional champion will head to Salem, Va., for the Division III World Series, May 27-June 1.
The second-seeded Saxons (31-9) will head to Eau Claire, Wisc. for the NCAA Regionals, beginning on Friday, May 21. Alfred will face USA-South Conference champions Piedmont (22-11) in the first round. Joining the two teams in the regional bracket are top seed and host Wisconsin-Oshkosh (24-11), third-seeded Linfield (36-7), fourth-seeded Southern Maine (31-4), and sixth-seeded Illinois College (25-12) in the double-elimination format.
Alfred captured the Empire 8 title on May 15 after a 7-5 victory over St. John Fisher. Alfred has won 11 of its last 13 contests and eclipsed the 30-win plateau for just the third time in program history, joining the 2010 (37-8) and 2015 (40-9) squads. The Saxons are making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Championship (2010, 2014, 2015)
The nationally-ranked Cardinals received one of five Pool C bids into the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship, as St. John Fisher earned the top overall seed in a six-team pod to be played at host Penn. State Behrend in Erie, Pa.
Fisher (28-5), which is ranked 12th in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, will serve as the top overall seed in the regional and play No. 6 seed York College of Pennsylvania (18-9) in the opening round on Friday, May 21 with the winner advancing to take on the losing team from game three featuring Rochester and Penn. State Behrend.
Joining Fisher in the Erie, Pa. Regional are No. 2 seed SUNY Geneseo (16-8) which will take on No. 5 seed Stevens (22-8) and No. 3 seed Rochester (31-8), which will square off with host and No. 4 seed Penn. State Behrend (28-6).
The Cardinals are making their 11th overall appearance in the NCAA Championship and will look to advance to the College World Series for the first time since finishing as national runners-up in 2017 and national semifinalists in 2016.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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