McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team is set to participate in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, marking their 20th appearance. The tournament will take place from May 16-18, with the team traveling to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the regional games. They will face Wartburg College in their opening match on Thursday, May 16 at 2:30 p.m. This event is hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and also features Saint Benedict.

The Titans secured their spot in the tournament after winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament title on Saturday, May 11. They achieved this by defeating Millikin University with a score of 4-2. Currently, Illinois Wesleyan holds a record of 30-10, experiencing one of their best seasons since 2019.

Illinois Wesleyan is the only school from CCIW to make it into the 62-team field. Throughout this season, they have competed against nine teams that are part of the tournament, including their first-round opponent Wartburg.

The selection process for the tournament involved forty-one conferences receiving automatic qualification (Pool A). Additionally, one institution was chosen from Pool B, which includes independent institutions and schools from conferences not meeting automatic qualification criteria. The remaining twenty teams were selected on an at-large basis from qualifying conferences and institutions included in Pool B.

The winner between Illinois Wesleyan and Wartburg will advance to face either UW-Oshkosh or Saint Benedict on Friday, May 17 at 11 a.m., while the losing teams will compete against each other at 1:30 p.m.