WILMINGTON, North Carolina – The UNCW softball team, champions of the Colonial Athletic Association, will begin the 2022 NCAA Softball Championship in the Clemson Regional against the host Tigers at Noon on Friday.
The Seahawks (32-13) will join the tournament's No. 10 overall seed Clemson (39-15), Auburn (39-15), and Louisiana (45-11) at McWhorter Stadium from May 20-22 in the double-elimination regional. The Seahawks will make their NCAA Championship debut on the ACC Network.
"We are facing Clemson, but to us, it's a nameless and faceless opponent," said UNCW Head Coach Kristy Norton. "We need to continue playing UNCW softball. Great teams get through adversity well and we did have ups and downs, but our team preserved through that, and we came out as champions.
"I'm just thrilled for the girls. This is a moment they will never forget and quite frankly a moment I won't forget either."
UNCW earned the CAA's automatic NCAA bid by winning three games in three days last weekend in the CAA Championship at Elon's Hunt Softball Park. The Seahawks upset the tournament's top two seeds, Delaware and Hofstra, in a pair of rubber matches before downing the host Phoenix, 10-2, in six innings for the program's first conference title.
The steady right arms of freshmen Emily Winstead and Kara Hammock recorded every out of UNCW's thrilling tournament run. Winstead was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Performer after striking out 25 batters in 12.2 innings. Hammock earned All-Tournament honors with a microscopic 0.95 ERA and limited opponents to a .200 batting average.
The Seahawks, who relied on the short game and stolen bases all season, erupted for 24 hits, including four home runs in three tournament games. UNCW was a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.
UNCW battles Clemson, who have never met, in a meeting of two of the nation's top pitching staffs. The Tigers, the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament runners-up, carry a 1.87 ERA into the contest. The Seahawks counter with a 1.73 ERA. Both UNCW and Clemson pace their respective conferences in ERA.
A trio of Tigers – Regan Spencer, Millie Thompson, and Valerie Cagle – own three of the 10 lowest ERAs in the ACC, led by Spencer's 1.11 mark in 57 innings. Thompson and Cagle have combined for 28 wins and 265 strikeouts for the Tigers.
The Tigers are hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time.
2022 NCAA Softball Championships | Clemson Regional
Friday, May 20
Game 1: UNCW vs. Clemson - Noon
Game 2: Auburn vs. Louisiana - 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
Game 3: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner - 1 p.m.
Game 4: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser - 3:30 p.m.
Game 5: G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner - 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 22
Game 6: G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner - Noon
Game 7: G6 Winner vs. G6 Loser (If necessary) - 2:30 p.m.
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