For Immediate Release May 10, 1999
Roanoke Headed to New Jersey for Regionals
Fifth Seeded Maroons Will PLay Salisbury State in First Round
SALEM, Va.--The Roanoke College softball team will travel to Glassboro, NJ and Rowan University to play in the NCAA Division III softball Atlantic Regional bracket. The Maroons will be the fifth seeded team, out of five, in the bracket and will play the Salisbury State Sea Gulls on Friday afternoon (May 14th). The time of the games has not yet been determined. The other three teams in the bracket are Rowan University (the host), the College of New Jersey, and Montclair State. The winner of the Atlantic Region will advance to the national championship bracket the following weekend. The Maroons are making their first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament after winning the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship in April. The Maroons will have a tough task in front of them if they wish to advance to the championship bracket. Roanoke’s first round opponent, Salisbury State, was a championship qualifier last season, making an appearance in the ‘Women’s World Series’ which was held at the Moyer Sports complex in Salem, VA. The Sea Gulls went 1-2 in last year’s championship round, defeating Bridgewater State (MA) before falling to Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Simpson (IA).
The other three schools in this year’s Atlantic Regional have combined to make 34 appearances in the NCAA tournament and win six national championships. Rowan, which finished its regular season with a 33-8 record will be making its eighth consecutive and 13th overall NCAA appearance. The College of New Jersey (30-9) has been the most successful team in the history of the Division III tournament. With its qualification this season, the College of New Jersey is the only Division III team to play in every tournament since 1982, the year it started. In that time, CNJ has won six national titles and finished as the runner-up six other times. Montclair State is 35-8 so far this season and will be playing in the national postseason for the eighth consecutive year and 16th overall.
If Roanoke wins its first round game with Salisbury State, it will move on to play Rowan in the second round, a game that will also be held on Friday. Should the Maroons fall to the Sea Gulls, they will drop to the ‘losers’ bracket and will play the loser of the College of New Jersey/Montclair State game. That contest will also be on Friday. The Atlantic Regional is a double-elimination, winner advances to the championship round format.
The Maroons are one of nine teams making their debuts in the Division III softball tournament in 1999. The others are Pacific Lutheran (WA), which is in its first year of DIII play, Anderson (IN), Clark (MA), Keene St. (NH), Oneonta St. (NY), Western Connecticut St., Methodist (NC), and Gettysburg (PA).
Against the teams in the tournament, Roanoke owns a 3-0 record this season, including a 1-0 mark against teams in its own region. The Maroons defeated Rowan, 5-1, at the Moyer Sports Complex on March 27th, and swept a home double-header from Methodist College on March 19th.
The 1999 Division III softball championship round will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in Eau Claire, WI. The tournament field, now at 40 teams, will be paired down to just eight teams, one from each of the eight NCAA regions. Those eight teams will converge on Eau Claire, WI from May 20-24 for the right to claim the 1999 national championship.