By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The celebration began near home plate with a group hug and continued in left field where keepsake photos were taken.

For the first time since 1999, the Bridgewater State University softball team had won a NCAA Division 3 regional championship, and every minute of the experience was going to be enjoyed to the fullest on Sunday afternoon.

"It's a completely new feeling,'' said senior pitcher Amber White of Middleboro. "Coming into this year, all our seniors especially just wanted to get wins and take this regional home. It's indescribable.''

The fourth-seeded Bears swept through the four-team regional, winning three straight games and clinching the title with a 3-1 victory over top-seeded Wellesley College.

BSU (32-12) is now one of 16 teams remaining in the national tourney and will host defending NCAA D3 champion and top-ranked Tufts University (40-3) in a best-of-three Super Regional series at Alumni Park.

The opener is Thursday at 4 p.m. with the second game at 1 p.m. on Friday.

"We're enjoying the ride,'' said first-year coach Chrissy Semler. "We're going to keep fighting.

"It's amazing to be part of this and to have this much talent to work with and make something happen. It's a great thing.''

The Bears, who had dropped 13 straight NCAA tourney games prior to this year, combined the brilliant pitching of White (the regional's Most Outstanding Player), a defense that did not make an error in the three games and timely hitting to emerge as the champion.

White limited Wellesley (29-11) to just five hits while freshman Tara McCann delivered a three-run homer in the third inning to give BSU all the offense it needed.

"Our defense was phenomenal and our hitting came out when we needed it,'' said McCann. "It was just an unbelievable tournament for us.''

Said White: "Everyone contributed. We put a real solid effort into this.''

The Bears took a 3-0 lead when McCann hit a long homer to left after Courtney Leddy singled and Jill Welch reached on a fielder's choice.

"I think I had two strikes and the pitch just looked good,'' said McCann, who was joined on the all-tourney team by Welch and Kelly McCarthy. "It was kind of like slow motion. I didn't even know I hit it over until the first-base coach started freaking out. I didn't even look at where the ball went.''

White and the defense, which made all the plays throughout the weekend, took care of the rest.

Wellesley's lone run came in the fifth when Ashtyn Coleman doubled and scored on a two-out single by Jayne Ellis.

White, a former Enterprise player of the year at Middleboro High, allowed just four runs and 15 hits in 23 innings during the regional and was happy the Bears weren't forced to an "if necessary'' game by Wellesley.

"I did not want to go two,'' said White, who is 25-3 with an ERA of 0.51. "I didn't know if my arm could take another game today.''

Said Semler: "It's a lot, three days in a row, tough games, too. She's battling the entire time. There's not many pitchers who could keep fighting that long. She wanted it, we all wanted it together. She's a competitor.''

With five freshmen starters and only four returning players from 2013, BSU came together quickly this season.

The veterans led the way and the first-year players got adjusted in a hurry. They earned a spot in the NCAAs and were on a mission after being named the last seed in the regional.

"We were kind of surprised to be seeded fourth,'' said Semler, whose team won the MASCAC tourney.

"That kind of fired us up. It was, 'We're going to show them we don't deserve to be fourth.'''

The Bears proved their point, and now it's on to the round of 16 and a matchup at home with the 2013 national champion, Tufts.