For the 15th time in program history, the Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament as the field was announced this morning at 10 a.m. The Bears were announced as the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 6 seed Carson-Newman in the first game of the regional which is hosted by the No. 2 seed Wingate. The LR/C-N game is set to take place Thursday.

All 15 NCAA Tournament appearances have come under the direction of head coach Shena Hollar who is in her 24th year at the helm. Hollar has guided LR to 22 NCAA Tournament wins and a pair of appearances in the Super Regional. A year ago, LR was the 2-seed and hosted the Regional but were eliminated by Wingate.

The Bears will take on a familiar foe in SAC foe Carson-Newman in the opener. The Bears and Eagles split a doubleheader in Hickory in the regular season with LR winning game one, 4-2 before falling 6-5 in the finale. The two programs have met 84 times with four of those games coming in the NCAA Tournament. LR owns a 2-2 mark in NCAA games against Carson-Newman, including the most recent victory which was a 17-0 win in 2018.

NCAA Southeast Region Softball Tournament

Thursday, May 11 (Wingate, N.C.)
1 p.m. | #2 Wingate vs. #7 Francis Marion
3:30 p.m. | #3 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #6 Carson-Newman

Friday, May 12 (Wingate, N.C.)
10:30 a.m. | WU-FMU winner vs. LR-CN winner
1 p.m. | WU-FMU loser vs. LR-CN loser
3:30 p.m. | Loser of 11 a.m. game vs. winner of 1:30 p.m. game

Saturday, May 13 (Wingate, N.C.)
1 p.m. | Winner of Friday 11 a.m. game vs. Winner of Friday 4 p.m. game
3:30 p.m. | If Necessary game