Contact: Chassidy Holloway, Associate Executive Director, holloway@midwestconference.org
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Lake Forest College is headed back to the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament for the first time since 2019 and the 11th time in program history.
The Foresters (28-14-1) clinched their spot in the 64-team field after sweeping the 2025 Midwest Conference (MWC) regular-season and tournament titles, securing the league’s automatic qualifier.
Lake Forest will travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to compete in the regional hosted by Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). The Foresters will open the double-elimination event in the first game of the day at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 15, against the University of Redlands.
The Bulldogs received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament after finishing 34-9 and winning their fourth consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) regular-season championship. Making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, Redlands is ranked second in NCAA Region X and seventh in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) rankings.
WashU (32-5) will play Thursday’s second game at 1:30 p.m. against Wartburg College (24-15).
The winners of both games will advance to game three at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 16. The two losing teams will meet in game four, an elimination game, at 1:30 p.m. The loser of game three will then face the winner of game four in another elimination game at 4:00 p.m.
The regional championship game will take place on Saturday, May 17, at 11:00 a.m. If necessary, a second championship game will be played at 1:30 p.m.
The full regional schedule is available below.
| Thursday, May 15 |
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| Game 1 |
11:00 a.m. |
Redlands vs. Lake Forest |
| Game 2 |
1:30 p.m. |
WashU vs. Wartburg |
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| Friday, May 16 |
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| Game 3 |
11:00 a.m. |
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 |
| Game 4 |
1:30 p.m. |
Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 |
| Game 5 |
4:00 p.m. |
Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 |
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| Saturday, May 17 |
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| Game 6 |
11:00 a.m. |
Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 |
| Game 7 (if necessary) |
1:30 p.m. |
Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 |