NCAA Division III Final Bracket   |   NCAA D-III Softball Website

2018 NCAA Division III Softball Finals Website (includes ticket information)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The No. 6-seeded Illinois Wesleyan softball team scored a 5-1 upset over No. 3-seeded Rowan University on Thursday, May 24 in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Softball National Championships. Sophomore Shelby Fulk led the Titans on offense with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate that included the game's first run batted in and a two-run insurance home run in the seventh inning.
 
With a win the Titans (37-11-1) will face No. 2-seeded Texas-Tyler (44-3) at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 25 in the second round of the national championships. The Patriots were 7-1 winners over Case Western Reserve University on Thursday. Go here for links to live streaming and stats.
 
UT Tyler, which has made the NCAA Division III Championships four straight years and won the national title in 2016, is now 4-0 to start the tournament in those appearances. This is UT Tyler's final season in Division III as they will start making the jump to Division II in 2019. Friday's winner will receive an off day on Saturday and be one of the four teams remaining on Sunday.
 
The Titans scored first in the first inning when junior centerfielder Jillian Runyon led off with a bunt single on the first pitch, stole second and scored on a two-out single by sophomore second baseman Shelby Fulk.
 
Sophomore Ally Wiegand ran into a bit of trouble in the first allowing back-to-back singles in the bottom half of the first inning. Wiegand struck out her first batter of the game and induced a weak pop-out to end the Profs' threat.
 
IWU scored a pair of runs in the third when sophomore shortstop Sam Berghoff singled, went to second on a Fulk sacrifice and scored on a smash down the leftfield line by senior rightfielder Maggie Graham. With two outs, senior catcher Delaney Olinger's single up the middle drove home Graham to stake IWU to a 3-0 lead.
 
A seventh inning two-run homer by Fulk with Berghoff on base gave some padding for Wiegand (18-4), who struck out seven and became IWU's single season strikeout leader with 209, eclipsing the record of 203 by Molly McCready in 2012.
 
The Titans chased Profs' starting pitcher Jesse DeDominico (23-8) after just 1 2/3 innings as she allowed one run on three hits with two walks. Rowan, whose lone run came on the first career home run from freshman Kelly Duffy, fell to 39-12-1.