NCAA Regional Play to Return to Inspiration Field

Titans to play Bethany Lutheran

5/12/2025 10:28:00 AM

INDIANAPOLIS - After a clean sweep of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, the 22nd-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University softball team embarks on the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament as one of 42 automatic qualifiers in the 64-team field unveiled Monday morning, May 12. A full bracket can be found here.

The Titans will host a NCAA regional for the first time since 2019, as IWU welcomes Bethany Lutheran College, Greenville University, and Nebraska Wesleyan University to Inspiration Field Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17. Illinois Wesleyan will begin national tournament play Thursday, May 15. Game times will be determined later with updates published on iwusports.com.

Illinois Wesleyan, which will make its 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, enters the tournament with a 34-7 overall record after running through the CCIW. The Titans claimed the CCIW Regular Season Championship as the league's first-ever 16-0 conference champion, before taking the CCIW Tournament Title, May 10. The Green and White rank 14th in the national power index (NPI), the first-year metric that is used to determine the team's that qualify for the postseason, and sit 22nd in the latest NFCA Division III Coaches Poll released last week.

IWU was the lone CCIW school to make the 64-team field. The Titans have played games against eight teams in the tournament, posting a combined 8-5 record against Trine, Lake Forest, DePauw, Chapman, UW-Whitewater, Case Western, Wartburg, and UW-Eau Claire. Illinois Wesleyan was also slated to play WashU in the regular season, but the two teams were unable to find a makeup date after the season-opening doubleheader was postponed due to weather.

Forty-two conferences received an automatic qualification. The 22 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences.

The winner of the this weekend's regional will advance to the super regional Thursday-Friday, May 22-23. The NCAA Division III Softball Championship is slated for May 29-June 4 at Inspiration Field at Carol Willis Park.

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