La Crosse, Wis. - With its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament championship victory May 9 over UW-Whitewater, the UW-La Crosse softball team (36-7) earned an automatic bid to the 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament. It is the Eagles' second consecutive appearance in the national tournament after also capturing the WIAC Tournament in 2009.
UW-L will play Aurora University (Ill.) Thursday, May 13 in the first round of the national tournament. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at UW-Whitewater. UW-L is the second seed in the regional while Aurora is the seventh seed. The eight-team regional at UW-Whitewater is scheduled for May 13 through May 17.
UW-L is 2-1 all-time versus Aurora with the last meeting coming in 2001.
The first round follows a double-elimination format.
In the other first round games May 13 in Whitewater, top-seeded Luther College, Iowa (37-5) faces eighth-seeded St. Norbert College, Wis. (30-6) at 10 a.m.; fourth-seeded Carthage College, Wis. (24-13) plays fifth-seeded Alma College, Mich. (30-9) at noon and third-seeded the University of Redlands, Calif. (32-12) faces sixth-seeded Augustana College, Ill. (30-13) at 2 p.m.
Eight first round winners advance to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship scheduled for May 21-25 at UW-Eau Claire. The tournament will be played at Gelein Field at Carson Park.
UW-L, which went 4-1 in the WIAC Tournament this season, earned the league's automatic bid after a 2-0 win over UW-Whitewater May 9 at the UW-Oshkosh Sports Complex. The Eagles' 36 victories in 2010 are a single-season school record, breaking the record of 34 (34-12) set last year.
UW-L will be making its third appearance in the NCAA III Tournament and second straight. The Eagles went 0-2 in the regional last season in Indianola, Iowa. UW-L lost 5-4 to Wartburg College (Iowa) and 5-3 to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.).
Last year was UW-L's first appearance in the national tournament since 1986 when it went 2-2 at the UW-Whitewater Midwest Regional.
