BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - NCAA Division III Softball Tournament action kicks off with regional play around the country Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16, with the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team competing in the Waverly, Iowa regional. The three-day, four-team pod is hosted by 23rd-ranked Wartburg College and will see the Titans take on the host Knights at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14. No. 2 University of Redlands and Dominican University will duel at 11 a.m.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the national tournament holding a 28-13 overall record. The Green and White claimed the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's automatic bid to the field with a 3-0 run through the league's tournament. IWU also won the CCIW Regular Season with a conference record of 15-1. Wartburg earned its spot in the 64-team field as one of 22 at-large bids. The Knights won the American Rivers Conference Regular Season, but were bounced in the tournament semifinals and enter the weekend 31-10. Redlands races into the tournament with a 38-4 overall record and has won 28 straight games dating back to March 7. The Bulldogs swept the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, securing the latter with three straight five-inning run-rule wins. Rounding out the weekend's participants is Dominican, the AQ from the Northern Athletics College Conference. The Stars sport a 29-16 record and won twice Sunday, May 10, to claim the tournament championship.

TITANS IN THE POSTSEASON: Illinois Wesleyan will make its 22nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, having compiled a 57-47 record since making its first appearance in 1994. The Titans' .548 winning percentage in the national tournament has included five World Series appearances (2003, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). Illinois Wesleyan's 22 appearances are sixth-most of any program in the field.
    IWU advanced to the Super Regional round of last season's tournament. The Green and White won the Bloomington regional with wins over Bethany Lutheran and Nebraska Wesleyan before seeing its season end at Linfield.

FAMILIAR FRIENDS: For the third time in five seasons, IWU's postseason journey will begin with a game against Wartburg. The Titans and Knights previously faced off in the 2022 St. Joseph, Minn. regional and the 2024 Oshkosh, Wis. regional. The Knights knocked off the Titans in the 2022 bout 5-2 before IWU edged out WC 4-1 in 2024.

IWU AGAINST THE FIELD: Illinois Wesleyan has played games against six teams in the 64-team tournament, posting a combined 5-7 record against No. 8 Belhaven, Calvin, Illinois College, No. 9 Simpson, No. 15 UW-Oshkosh, and 23rd-ranked Wartburg.
    In fact, all four teams that participated in IWU's home tournament back in March made the field in Wartburg, UW-Oshkosh, and Calvin.

TP 300: Illinois Wesleyan head softball coach Tiffany Prager picked up the 300th win of her career Thursday, May 7, as the Titans defeated North Central, 9-6, in their first game of the CCIW Tournament. Prager is the only head coach to have 300 wins under their belt with less than 11 seasons. She currently ranks 93rd across all active Division III head coaches with 302 wins.

CERTA COLLECTS CCIW'S TOP PITCHING HONOR: Gianna Certa was voted the CCIW Pitcher of the Year for the second time in her career as the league doled out its postseason awards Wednesday, May 6. Certa, who had previously earned the honor in 2024, follows Mallory Holland who garnered the distinction in 2025. Certa marks the 11th CCIW Pitcher of the Year award in program history, while she is the third Titan to earn it multiple times in a career. She joins Molly McCready (2012 & 2014) and Christy Engel (2008, 2009, 2010).
    Certa turned in another dominant year in the circle, compiling an 8-0 record around the CCIW for the second time in her career. The Third Lake, Ill. native posted a 0.71 earned run average over 49.0 innings of work, limiting opponents to a .223 batting average. Certa's ERA ranked second in the league, while her opposing average was third-best. The league's wins leader, Certa fanned a conference-best 53 over eight starts. She tossed six complete games with five shutouts. The senior righty threw a no-hitter against Carroll, April 25, behind a career-high 11 strikeouts. Certa was a three-time CCIW Pitcher of the Week awardee throughout the season.

SEVEN ALL-CCIW: Illinois Wesleyan landed a conference-high seven on the All-CCIW teams announced following the conclusion of the regular season. Gianna Certa, Casey Wissmiller, Claire Post, and Jillian Bollard garnered First Team All-CCIW status, while sophomores Kelsey Bartels and Grace Wilkens along with senior Anna Beckman were second team standouts.

RECORD AGAINST THE REGIONAL: The Titans have compiled a combined record of 5-3 against this weekend's regional opponents with the entire tally coming against Wartburg. IWU has never played against Redlands or Dominican, while squaring off with the Knights eight times. The two first battled in 2005. IWU enjoyed a four-game win streak from 2023 until 2025, but WC grabbed two wins March 28-29, 2026.

ON DECK: The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of Redlands-Dominican at 11 a.m. Friday, May 15. The losers will compete in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m.