KSC Softball Fifth Seed in NCAA Tournament
KEENE, N.H. 5/5/03- The Keene State College softball team is headed back to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Owls (25-12) will be the fifth seed in the six-team double elimination tournament, which begins Friday at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.
“This is a very satisfying award for a team that never gave up,” said KSC Coach Charlie Beach. “Hopefully, we can maintain the momentum from winning the LEC Tournament.,I’m really glad we’re going to a site in the region,” he added. “It will be less of an impact on the players due to their final exams.”
Keene State will face fourth seed Western New England College (28-5) in a 10 a.m. game at Wheaton. #3 Endicott (34-3) takes on #6 Fitchburg State (19-13) at noon. Top seed Tufts (25-11) faces the winner of KSC/WNEC at 2 p.m. and #2 Wheaton College (33-7) goes up against the Endicott/Fitchburg winner at 4 p.m. The tournament will continue, if necessary, through Monday. The fifth seed in the LEC tournament, Keene State fought back from the loser’s bracket winning four straight games including a 2-0 victory over Western Connecticut in the tournament championship to claim the NCAA automatic bid.
Keene State will be making its third trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. In 1999, the Owls advanced to the championship game of the Northeast Region, losing to Ithaca College. The following year (2000) they lost in the semifinals of the New England Regional Tournament to Bridgewater State. KSC also went to the NCAAs as a Division II member in 1994, losing in the semifinal round to Quinnipiac.
Tournament Game Dates and Times:
Friday, May 9th
10 am: Game 1-No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed
noon: Game 2-No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed
2 pm: Game 3-No. 1 seed vs. Winner Game 1
4 pm: Game 4-No. 2 seed vs. Winner Game 2
Saturday, May 10th
10 am: Game 5-Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
noon: Game 6-Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
2 pm: Game 7-Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
4 pm: Game 8-Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Sunday, May 11th
noon: Game 9-Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
2 pm: Game 10-Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9
Monday, May 12th
12 pm: Game 11-necessary only if Winner Game 9 defeats Winner Game 7 in Game 10
