The Saint Leo University softball team, ranked No. 1 in the nation in Division II, will host one half of the south regional round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday through Saturday at Mary Cannon Cabot Stadium on the Saint Leo campus. The Lions, who are unbeaten at home this season, are the top seed and will be hosting a regional round for the third time in four years.
The team, led by coach Erin Kinberger, finished the regular season with a 44-3-1 record and won the championship of the highly competitive Sunshine State Athletic Conference by going 29-1 in league play. The only loss in their last 38 games was a 4-2 loss to Eckerd College on Saturday, but they bounced back with a 12-1 win in the second game. The regional round will feature fourth-seeded Auburn-Montgomery (42-11), fifth-seeded University of Tampa (34-2), and eighth-seeded Spring Hill (Ala.) College (32-23).
The University of West Florida will host the other regional site with West Alabama, Montevallo, and Alabama-Huntsville competing in Pensacola. Saint Leo’s Kinberger said, “I really don’t think having the streak snapped was a good or bad thing for us. We never paid much attention to it as the streak was going on. We always go into each game like we’re 0-0 against faceless opponents and our challenge is always to play up to our own standard.”
“But I will tell you that the loss to Eckerd rolled right off our backs. We came back and tattooed them in the second game and I take that as a sign that we’re going to be tough to stop the rest of the way,” Kinberger added.
Originally reported by Hernando Sun
Sources: Hernando Sun
