Indianapolis – St. Thomas Aquinas will make its NCAA Softball Championship debut after being the lone East Coast Conference member to be included in the Division II Championship brackets revealed on Monday morning.
The Spartans (31-16) earned their spot to play for a National Championship by winning their first-ever ECC Championship on Saturday afternoon.
STAC was awarded the No. 8 seed in the East Region 1 bracket and will start the tournament against No. 1 Adelphi (43-6). No. 4 Bentley (28-14-1) and No. 5 Caldwell (35-17) are also included in the regional that will take place on Adelphi’s campus in Garden City, N.Y.
The Spartans are 2-18 all-time against Adelphi with most of the matchups occurring between 2001 and 2009 when the Panthers were a member of the ECC. The two teams last met during the 2022 season when Adelphi swept a doubleheader that saw both Panthers' pitchers toss perfect games.
STAC also played Bentley and Caldwell during the regular season. They defeated Bentley on March 13 in Florida and were swept by Caldwell in a doubleheader on April 14.
The East Regional 2 bracket features No. 2 Wilmington (39-13), No. 3 Georgian Court (37-19), No. 6 Franklin Pierce (32-18), and No. 7 Pace (26-23).
The winner of each regional will advance to the East Super Regional on May 18-19. The super regional champion will move on to play in the NCAA Division II World Series from May 25-31 at Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
To view the full NCAA Division II Softball Championship bracket, click here.
