Belmont softball made program history on May 10.
The Bruins hit three home runs en route to a 6-2 victory over Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game in Des Moines to earn the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
Belmont (40-14, 20-7 MVC) entered the tournament as the 2-seed after dropping just one series in league play (to 1-seed Southern Illinois), then won against 7-seed Bradley and 3-seed Northern Iowa to advance to the final.
The Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Saturday after back-to-back home runs by Brenna Blume and Madison Dolecki in the third inning. Southern Illinois sliced the Belmont lead to 3-2, but Nicole Hughes’ three-run homer in the seventh inning provided insurance.
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced in full with regional groupings at 6 p.m. CT on May 11, with televised coverage on ESPN2. NCAA regional play begins May 16.
The Bruins have a solid resume out of conference, with a series win over Maryland and wins over Purdue and Arizona State earlier in the season among games against power conference competition.