The Gustavus softball team received an at-large bid to participate in the 2007 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament. The Gusties, who are currently 31-8 overall, will play host Luther College in the seven-team Central Regional on Thursday at 12:00 pm. The winner of the Central Regional will advance to the Division III Championship Finals, which will take place May 18-22 in Salem, Virginia.
Gustavus, which finished second in the MIAC regular season standings with a record of 20-2, will be making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament (the first appearance was in 2003). The Gusties, who are the #6 seed in the seven-team regional will face #3 seed and host Luther at noon on Thursday in the opening round of play. Luther, which was the regular season champion of the Iowa Conference, enters with a record of 34-5. The Gusties and Norse have not met on the softball field since 2002 when Gustavus posted a 7-4 win indoors in the Rice Street Dome in St. Paul, Minn. The winner of the Gustavus/Luther game will face the winner of the Webster (#7) vs. Washington Univ. (#2) contest on Friday at 2:00 pm, while the loser will play on Friday at noon.
The seven teams taking part in the Luther Regional include St. Thomas, 41-2 (#1), Washington University, 28-5 (#2), Luther, 34-5 (#3), Wartburg, 27-6 (#4), UW-Stevens Point, 32-8 (#5), Gustavus Adolphus, 31-8 (#6), and Webster , 24-16 (#7). The double-elimination tournament is scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday at the Luther Softball Field in Decorah, Iowa.