ESU to Host Softball South Central Regional

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Emporia State was selected to host the NCAA Division II Softball South Central Regional No. 2 as the No. 1 seed, and Nebraska-Omaha earned the No. 2 seed in the South Central Regional No. 1, the NCAA Division II Softball Committee announced Monday.

Emporia State and Nebraska-Omaha tied for the MIAA regular season championship, and played three hard-fought games in the MIAA Tournament this past weekend as the Hornets came away with the championship.

A total of 64 teams will participate in the 2010 NCAA Division II Softball Championship. Four teams will participate at each of 16 regional sites in double-elimination tournaments. Regional competition will be held May 14-16. Winners will advance to the super regionals May 21-22. The finals will be held May 27-31 at Heritage Park Softball Complex in St. Joseph, Mo, and will be hosted by Missouri Western State University.

Twenty-two conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2010 championship. Each conference and its automatic qualifier are listed below:

California Collegiate Athletic Conference - Sonoma State University
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference - Dominican College (New York)
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Chowan University
Conference Carolinas - Queens University of Charlotte
East Coast Conference - Dowling College
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Wayne State University (Michigan)
Great Lakes Valley Conference - Lewis University
Great Northwest Athletic Conference - Central Washington University
Gulf South Conference - Valdosta State University
Heartland Conference - St. Mary's University (Texas)
Lone Star Conference - Angelo State University
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association - Emporia State University
Northeast-10 Conference - Southern Connecticut State University
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference - Wayne State College (Nebraska)
Pacific West Conference - Hawaii Pacific University
Peach Belt Conference - North Georgia College & State University
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference - Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference - Metropolitan State College of Denver
South Atlantic Conference - Lenoir-Rhyne University
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Albany State University (Georgia)
Sunshine State Conference - Rollins College
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - West Virginia Wesleyan College
In the 2009 championship, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania captured its second national championship title with an 8-0 victory over the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

SITES/PAIRINGS (*Denotes host institution)

Atlantic Regional (Bloomsburg, Penn.)
1. *Bloomsburg 44-5
2. West Virginia Wesleyan 42-10
3. Indiana (Pennsylvania) 34-10
4. Chowan 30-19

Atlantic Regional 2 (California, Penn.)
1. *California (Pennsylvania) 34-12
2. Kutztown 41-16
3. Shepherd 35-14
4. Fairmont State 31-18

Central Regional (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
1. *Metro State 46-14
2. Minnesota State Mankato 32-13
3. Winona State 35-12
4. Mesa State 23-20

Central Regional 2 (Wayne, Neb.)
1. *Wayne State (Nebraska) 40-12
2. Augustana (South Dakota) 42-10
3. Concordia-St. Paul 34-15
4. Minnesota Duluth 32-15

East Regional (New Haven, Conn.)
1. *New Haven 38-6
2. Southern Connecticut State 40-11
3. Caldwell 42-14
4. Georgian Court 37-17

East Regional 2 (Shirley, N.Y.)
1. *Dowling 42-15
2. C.W. Post 40-14
3. Molloy 38-18
4. Dominican (NY) 37-14

Midwest Regional (Detroit, Mich.)
1. *Wayne State (Michigan) 45-10
2. Indianapolis 36-15
3. Saginaw Valley State 24-14
4. Quincy 36-15

Midwest Regional 2 (Ashland, Ohio)
1. *Ashland 33-11
2. Lewis 32-12
3. Northern Kentucky 34-18
4. Tiffin 31-16

South Regional (Huntsville, Ala.)
1. *Alabama-Huntsville 37-10
2. Rollins 44-4
3. Arkansas-Monticello 42-10
4. Nova Southeastern 39-15

South Regional 2 (Valdosta, Ga.)
1. *Valdosta State 42-6
2. West Florida 29-14
3. Palm Beach Atlantic 26-11
4. Albany State 38-23

Southeast Regional (Hickory, N.C.)
1. *Lenoir-Rhyne 50-7
2. Augusta State 38-15
3. Armstrong Atlantic State 29-16
4. Mars Hill 22-15

Southeast Regional 2 (Dahlonega, Ga.)
1. *North Georgia 45-0
2. Francis Marion 34-14
3. Carson-Newman 36-10
4. Queens (North Carolina) 26-23

South Central Regional (Wichita Falls, Texas)
1. *Midwestern State 50-8
2. Nebraska-Omaha 48-11
3. West Texas A&M 43-16
4. St. Mary's (TX) 34-19

South Central Regional 2 (Emporia, Kan.)
1. *Emporia State 47-12
2. Angelo State 43-12
3. Central Oklahoma 32-19
4. Texas Woman's 37-20

West Regional (Rohnert Park, Calif.)
1. *Sonoma State 42-16
2. Grand Canyon 38-11
3. Cal State Chico 28-18
4. Dixie State 34-12

West Regional 2 (Kaneohe, Hawaii)
1. *Hawaii Pacific 39-6
2. Cal State Monterey Bay 33-18
3. Hawaii Hilo 31-14
4. Central Washington 37-13