NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament Bracket

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The NCAA Division III Softball Tournament pairings were announded today and the Bridgewater State College Bears are seeded sixth in the New England Regional which is hosted by Rhode Island College. 

BSC will take on third seeded Saint Joseph's College of Long Island in their opening round game on Thursday at noon from RIC's Dayna A. Bazar Softball Complex in Providence.

Bridgewater enters the NCAA Tournament with a record of 26-15.  The Bears, winners of six straight games and 15 out of the last 16, captured the MASCAC Tournament championship on Sunday with a 5-1 win over Westfield State.  The tournament title was BSC's sixth in the eight years history of the event. The MASCAC Tournament champion earns an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

Bridgewater is making the program's 19th trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament and ninth in the last eleven years.  BSC advanced to the NCAAs for the first time in 1984 followed by a trip in 1986. 

The Bears made seven straight appearances from 1988 to 1994.  In 1994, BSC lost in the national championship game to Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) by a score of 6-5. 

Bridgewater was back in the tournament in 1996, and then made five consecutive trips from 1998 to 2002 and three straight from 2004 to 2006.  The Bears hosted the New England Regional Tournament from 1998 to 2001, winning it in 1998 and again in 1999.