Gettysburg will meet Virginia Wesleyan in Virginia Beach, Va., for the regional round of the 2024 NCAA Division III softball tournament, beginning today.
The Bullets (28-11) earned an automatic bid into the field of 62 with its sixth Centennial Conference (CC) title, defeating Muhlenberg 7-0 on Saturday in Chestertown.
Gettysburg is making its fifth NCAA tournament appearance. The Bullets will play Lebanon Valley (in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament on Thursday. The host Marlins and Eastern Connecticut State meet in the day’s other first-round game. The first game between Virginia Wesleyan and Eastern Connecticut will begin at 12 p.m., with the Gettysburg-Lebanon Valley game to follow at approximately 2:30 p.m.
The losers will meet in the first elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m., while the winners will match up 30 minutes following the conclusion of that game, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s regional final. Friday’s action concludes with a second elimination game between the winner of the day’s first contest and the loser of the day’s second game. That winner advances to Saturday’s final, slated to begin at 11 a.m., and would need to win twice to advance to the super regionals the following weekend.
Gettysburg leads the all-time series with Lebanon Valley 40-22 but the Dutchmen have won four of the last five meetings. Virginia Wesleyan has won both previous meetings with the Bullets, including in the 2018 NCAA regional. Eastern Connecticut won the only other matchup against Gettysburg, capturing a 3-0 win in 2019.
Freshman Audrey Bergan leads the offense this season with a .387 batting average and a team-best 48 hits. She has five doubles and a triple for a .444 slugging percentage and has also drawn 12 walks for a .449 on-base percentage. She has 31 runs scored and 13 RBIs. Senior Julia Smith is hitting .353 with 41 hits, 16 RBIs and 14 walks. Junior Carlie Goldstein is hitting .347 on the year with 35 hits that includes a team-high 14 doubles. She has driven in 26 runs.
Junior Paige Forry leads the pitching staff with a 1.73 earned-run average. She is 13-5 in the circle and has 13 complete games among her 20 starts. She has struck out 102 and walked just 22 in 133 1/3 innings pitched.
This story first appeared on the Gettysburg College website.