Great South Athletic Conference

e R

For Immediate Release
May 7 , 2007

LaGrange, Maryville head to Division III softball regionals

LAGRANGE, Ga. - LaGrange College and Maryville College will represent the Great South Athletic Conference in the NCAA Division III Women’s Softball Championship beginning Thursday, May 10.

LaGrange, the GSAC champion and automatic qualifier will play in the Fayetteville, N.C. regional hosted by Methodist University. Maryville earned an at-large bid and will be in the New Concord, Ohio regional. With the selections, it marks the first time in GSAC history that two schools from the conference have been in a national tournament at the same time. It is the first time LaGrange has earned an NCAA bid in softball and Maryville’s first since 2002.

Eighth-seeded LaGrange (26-18) will face top-seeded and regional host Methodist (32-8) on Thursday at 10 a.m. The Panthers lost 2-0 to the Monarchs earlier in the season at the Early Bird Tournament in Florence, S.C. Methodist is ranked 23rd in the latest NFCA Division III national poll.

The regional boasts three nationally ranked teams and defending national champion Rutgers-Camden (31-13). The rest of the regional is made up of No. 12 Emory (28-6), No. 21 Salisbury (36-7), Christopher Newport (33-8), ODAC champion Lynchburg (33-11) and Marietta (32-10).

Maryville (23-11) is seeded sixth in the New Concord, Ohio regional hosted by top-seeded Muskingum (34-9). The Lady Scots will face Michigan Intercollegiate conference champion and third-seeded Alma on Thursday at 2 p.m.

Muskingum, the 2001 national champion, is ranked ninth in the NFCA poll. Alma is ranked 24th in the poll. The rest of the regional is Hood (14-19), Bridgewater ( Va.) (37-6), Anderson ( Ind.) 23-12, Allegheny (18-17) and DePauw (32-5).

The regional runs through Sunday, May 13. The eight regional winners advance to the finals at Salem, Va. The finals are May 18-22.