Ohio Northern to face Trine (Ind.) in Adrian Regional of NCAA III Softball Tournament Thursday

By: Tim Glon

ADA — Ohio Northern will travel to Adrian, Mich., for the 2011 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Thursday-Monday.

The fourth-seeded Polar Bears will face fifth-seeded Trine in the first round of the 8-team, double-elimination Adrian Regional on Thursday in Game 2 at Noon.

The other first-round matchups in the regional on Thursday are top-seeded and No. 19-ranked DePauw (Ind.) and eighth-seeded D'Youville (N.Y.) starting the tournament at 10 am, third-seeded Baldwin-Wallace and sixth-seeded Bethany (W.Va.) in Game 3 at 2 pm and second-seeded and No. 11-ranked Alma (Mich.) and seventh-seeded Hiram in Game 4 at 4 pm.

With a win on Thursday, Northern would then face the DePauw / D'Youville winner in Game 7 on Friday at 2 pm. With a loss, ONU would face the DePauw / D'Youville loser in Game 5 on Friday at 10 am in an elimination contest.

ONU, under first-year head coach Kim Burke, is making its third consecutive and its eighth overall NCAA Tournament appearance.

Northern earned the Ohio Athletic Conference's automatic bid into the tournament by reaching the finals of last week's OAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The Polar Bears were OAC Regular Season Co-Champions with a 14-4 league record, marking their third straight title and their fourth in the past five seasons.

Northern is 26-12 overall and is led by three First Team All-Conference players, junior All-Americans Kimi Blewett and Jackie Mangola and freshman Christin Miller.