ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend softball team will travel to Cleveland, Ohio for the 2024 NCAA Division III Regional on May 16-18 hosted by Case Western Reserve at Mather Park. The fourth-seed Lions (33-8) will face top-seed and host Spartans (34-6) in the first round on Thursday at 12 p.m.
Second-seed Calvin and will battle third-seed Dominican (Ill.) in the second game of the day at 2:30 p.m. The tournament is double elimination with the winner advancing to the super regionals, which will take place from May 23-24.
The Lions won their 11th Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championship with three straight wins in the tournament, including a 5-2 victory on Saturday in the title game against Mt. Aloysius. Behrend earned the conference's automatic bid to make its 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Lions enter on an 17-game winning streak.
The Spartans, ranked seventh in Division III by the NFCA, secured its third consecutive University Athletic Association (UAA) championship with a 16-4 conference record and clinched the league's automatic bid. It marks the third consecutive season Case Western has hosted the regional rounds. The Spartans are making their fifth NCAA Championship appearance.
There are 62 teams that are competing in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship Tournament. There are 15 four-team regional sites and one with two teams. Forty-one conferences received automatic bids (Pool A). Twenty schools were selected on an at-large basis from the automatic qualifying conferences and one independent institution in Pool B.
Thursday, May 16
Game 1: #1 Case Western vs. #4 Penn State Behrend, 12 p.m.
Game 2: #2 Calvin vs. #3 Dominican (Ill.), 2:30 p.m.
Friday, May 17
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 18
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 11 a.m.
Game 7: (if necessary), 1:30 p.m.
