Seton Hall, Hofstra, LIU, Marist to hit diamond in NCAA softball tournament
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The NCAA softball regionals begin Friday, with four local teams taking the diamond and all with a unique story to tell.
There is a thrill to clinching the conference championships, but the ride doesn't end there. It's just the beginning.
The NCAA regionals are set to begin on Friday, with all four area teams on the road for the double elimination round.
For Seton Hall, this is the first trip to the tournament for the Big East champs in 18 years.
"It's honestly unreal, just enjoying it together honestly, it's such an effort I have no words," Seton Hall junior Kelsey Carr said. "We did it as a team, look to keep that going."
Long Island University (LIU) punched its ticket as the NEC champs, their first conference title since 2016. They are on the road at Alabama, but road games are nothing new to the Sharks.
"We've played 56 straight road games this year while they've been fixing up our fields and dugouts in Brooklyn, they've been playing an hour, two hours away for all our home games and actually these two kids have played over 175 straight road games," LIU head coach Roy Kortmann said.
And the road gets a whole lot tougher for the CAA champs Hofstra, as 'The Pride' face the No. 1 overall seed and back-to-back defending champion Oklahoma right out of the gate.
"Yes, they have dominance and have had dominance for years, it doesn't necessarily change that the game is still played with 60-foot bases, with nine people on the field," Hofstra head coach Adrienne Clark said. "We have just all season long been focusing on the things we can control."
For Marist, the timing of the tournament and opening play against Florida State conflicted with graduation for six members of the team, so, the school held a special graduation ceremony for them on Tuesday.
"The nicest thing about it was we could celebrate each one individually," Marist President Kevin Weinman said.
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