Dayton Flyers, Miami RedHawks heading to NCAA softball regional at Tennessee

The Dayton Flyers and Miami RedHawks earned NCAA tournament berths in the same regional in Knoxville, Tenn.

Dayton (33-19), which will play in the NCAA tournament for the first time, drew a first-round game at 2:30 p.m. Friday against the tournament’s No. 3 seed, Tennessee (40-10). The Flyers watched the selection show at UD Arena on Sunday night.

Dayton clinched a NCAA tournament berth by winning the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. Dayton beat Saint Louis 3-0 in the championship game Saturday at Fordham’s Bahoshy Softball Complex in Bronx, N.Y. Dayton also won the regular-season title for the first time since 2015.

The other game in the regional matches Miami (48-7) against Virginia (32-18) at noon Friday.

Miami won the Mid-American Conference tournament for the third straight year Saturday, beating Ball State 8-0 in the championship game. This will be the eighth NCAA tournament berth for Miami. All have come in the last 20 years.

Tennessee will host the double-elimination regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Both games Friday will air on ESPN+.

With a shut out against Ball St. the RedHawks are MAC champions again! #RiseUpRedHawks

🔴Fourth mac tournament championship title in a row
🔴Reagan Bartholomew had the walk off homer
🔴Addy Jarvis got the complete game win, allowing only one hit pic.twitter.com/CGFVIZ4nJ1
— Miami Softball (@MiamiOH_SB) May 11, 2024