BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - The NCAA Division III Softball Tournament selections were announced on Monday and the Bridgewater State University Bears are seeded sixth in the New England Regional hosted by Babson College.

Under the guidance of first-year head coach Allie LeBlanc, the BSU softball team (26-15) will be making the program's 21st trip to the national tournament and first since 2009.

Bridgewater received an automatic qualifier to the NCAAs after capturing the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament championship on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over MCLA in the championship game. The Bears, who also captured the MASCAC regular season title, went 4-1 during the conference tournament and enter NCAA regional play having won eight of their last nine games and 11 of their last 13.

Bridgewater will take on third-seeded and regional host Babson in the tournament's opening round on Thursday at 2:00 PM.  Babson earned an at large selection after posting a record of 32-12.  The Beavers dropped the first game of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament but battled back to win five straight games before losing to Springfield College in the championship game.

Tufts University (38-3), the NESCAC champion, is the top-seed in the regional, while Rowan University (37-7), an at large selection out of the NJAC, is seeded second.  NEWMAC champion Springfield College (26-18) is seeded fourth, while GNAC champion Saint Joseph’s College of Maine (33-9) is seeded fifth.  Rounding out the eight-team regional are seventh-seed and NAC champion Husson University (28-16) and number eight Lesley University (24-17), champions of the NECC.

The Bears are led by MASCAC Player of the Year Brianna Strecker (Waterford, Conn.) and MASCAC Pitcher of the Year Amber White (Middleboro, Mass.).

Strecker, who has started all 41 games at catcher, is batting .317 (40-126) with six doubles, two triples, a pair of home runs, 36 runs scored and 11 RBI.  The senior backstop is also a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts.

White is 15-6 with 19 complete games and nine shutouts in 25 appearances this season.  The junior right-hander enters the tournament with an impressive 0.63 earned run average and 133 strikeouts in 155 2/3 innings of work, while opponents are batting just .168 against her.  White ranks among the top ten in all of Division III in ERA and fewest walks per seven innings (0.58). She is also in the top 15 nationally in shutouts and fewest hits allowed per seven innings (4.36).

Also highlighting the Bears' lineup are All-MASCAC selections Jennifer Shaw (3B, Brockton, Mass.), Jill Welch (2B, Hubbardston, Mass.), Meghan Dunn (P, Colchester, Conn.) and Jocelyn Bettencourt (Plymouth, Mass.).

Shaw (.371, 2 HR, 12 2B, 19 RBI) and Welch (.315, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 9 SB) joined Strecker and White on the first team, while Bettencourt (.309, 17 R, 13 SB) and Dunn (10-9, 2.35 ERA, 72 K) earned second team honors.

Six teams will compete at one regional site and eight teams will compete at seven regional sites. The eight regional sites will use a double-elimination format.

The six-team regional round will be held May 9-13, and the eight-team regional rounds will be held May 10-13. The finals, hosted by the Wisconsin-Eau Claire, will be held May 17-21 at the Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Forty-one conferences received automatic qualification (Pool A). Two institutions were selected from Pool B, which includes independent institutions and institutions from conferences that do not meet the automatic qualification criteria. The 19 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining institutions in Pool B.