INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After earned the WIAC's automatic bid, the UW-Stevens Point softball team found out its postseason fate on Monday. The Pointers will travel to Winona, Minn., for the NCAA Tournament Regional round and face host Saint Mary's in the first game at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday (May 14). Calvin and Bethany Lutheran are the other teams in the regional.
 
NCAA Bracket
 
The Pointers earned the automatic bid after becoming the first five-seed to win the WIAC Tournament. UWSP went 3-0 with wins over UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Platteville for the tournament championship.
 
UWSP will be making its third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, the first time in program history to make it three-straight seasons. It will be the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance for the program.
 
UWSP is 1-1 all-time against Saint Mary's with the only two matchups in 1994 and 1998. The Pointers have never played Bethany Lutheran and have faced Calvin twice, once in 2015 and once in 2017.
 
This season, the Pointers set a new program record for team home runs in a season with 37. UWSP senior pitcher Ashley Zygowski (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) broke the NCAA Division III record for career saves, earning her 33rd on May 2 against UW-River Falls. Sophomore pitcher Kodi Rizzo (Newark, Ill./Newark Community) has a season ERA of 0.98, the eighth-best in the nation this season. Junior catcher Rachael Madsen (Kenosha, Wis./Mary D. Bradford) is second in the nation in potential base stealers caught stealing with 15.
 
Hailee Thompson (Bonduel, Wis./Bonduel) leads the team with a .388 batting average, eighth-best in the WIAC. She also is tied for the league lead with 15 doubles. Kaitlyn Roberts (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) is second with a .341 average and her 10 hit by pitches is second in the WIAC.