ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- For the third time since 2017, the College of Saint Benedict softball team (24-17) has received a berth into the NCAA DIII national tournament.
On Monday (May 13), the Bennies, directed by veteran head coach Rachael Click, earned an at-large selection to the 62-team field. Saint Benedict, which won its first regular season MIAC title since 1994, will face Wisconsin-Oshkosh (34-4) in the opening round at noon on Thursday, May 16. CSB will compete in a four-team, double elimination regional from May 16-18 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Also included in the four-team field will be Illinois Wesleyan (30-10) and Wartburg (Iowa) (23-16), who will face each other at 2:30 p.m., on Thursday in the other first-round game.
Schedule -
Thursday - May 16
Game 1 - UW-Oshkosh vs Saint Benedict - 12 p.m.
Game 2 - Wartburg vs. Illinois Wesleyan - 2:30 p.m.
Friday - May 17
Game 3- Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 4 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 loser vs Game 4 winner, 4 p.m.
Saturday - May 18
Game 6 - Game 3 winner vs Game 5 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 7 - If necessary
CSB had a 24-17 record in 2024 and was one of three teams (Saint Mary's and No. 18 Bethel) to win a share of the MIAC regular season title with a 17-5 record. CSB, which has one of the highest strength of schedule rankings in DIII, was the No. 2 seed in the MIAC Tournament but lost to Bethel, 5-3, in the MIAC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
CSB is back in the national tournament for the third time since 2017. As recently as 2022, CSB hosted a four-team DIII regional. When CSB plays on Thursday, the Bennies will make its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance after also receiving a berth in 1993, 1994, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Heading into the regional, CSB is 6-10 in NCAA Tournament play.
No. 12 ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh, which won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, dropped a 2-1 decision to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the WIAC tournament title game on May 11.
As for the other teams in the regional. Illinois Wesleyan captured the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament to earn a bid. It is their 16th title since 1995. Wartburg earned an at large bid after falling to Luther, 4-1, in the American Rivers Conference Tournament on May 10.
The regional round on May 16-18 includes four teams which will compete at 15 regional sites and two teams will compete at one regional site. The team advancing from each regional will compete in the super regional round May 23 and 24. The finals, hosted by East Texas Baptist University, will be held May 30 -June 5 at Bell Park at Taylor Field in Marshall, Texas.
