INDIANAPOLIS -- Following a late-season hot streak and a deep run in the Mountain East Conference Tournament, the Davis & Elkins Senators have secured an at-large bid in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship Atlantic Region Tournament.

D&E Head Coach Elle Fracker set up an early, out-of-conference schedule that would challenge her squad and test their resilience. Three of the Senators' first four opponents also made it to their respective Regional Tournaments. Those teams, Lenoir-Rhyne, King, and Indianapolis have a combined 121-42 record. Meanwhile, D&E battled through the early part of the season and was 9 and 13 when they entered MEC play. The Senators also played twenty-seven games on the road prior to playing their first at home.  

Despite the early season setbacks, the team remained focused on the long-term goal of building throughout the season and peaking at the end of the season. D&E went on two all important streaks that made believers of themselves and the selection committee responsible for advancing them to the NCAA Regional field.

A mid-April streak of eleven straight wins helped turn the season around for the Senators. Prior to the win streak, D&E was sitting on a 12-21 record and they were a mere 6-9 in the MEC. The streak boosted the overall record to 23-21 and gave the team new life in their conference hopes.

D&E entered the MEC Tournament over the weekend with confidence. As the MEC South's #3 seed, D&E posted wins on Friday over Notre Dame College, the MEC North's #2 seed 4-2, and the University of Charleston, the MEC South's #1 seed 4-3. They waltzed through the winner's bracket on Saturday with a win over Fairmont State, the North's #1 seed 14-5. The University of Charleston regrouped on Sunday to hand the Senators a pair of losses and the Golden Eagles took home the MEC Softball trophy. Honesty Holt, Linzey Allard, and Vanessa Hunt were named to the MEC All-Tournament Team.

The late-season run and playing for a conference championship helped D&E jump from a team that was not on the Atlantic Regional radar in the weeks leading up to the selection to a Cinderella story. The team now sits at 29-26 overall and 20-12 in the MEC.

The Senators enter the NCAA Tournament as the #7 seed in the Atlantic Region and will play Shippensburg, the Region's #2 seed on Friday, May 11 at 3pm. Charleston will host the "Atlantic 2" bracket and will play Kutztown at noon. All teams will play again on Friday at varying times in the double-elimination series.

Fellow MEC institution, West Virginia Wesleyan will play in the Atlantic 1 bracket in East Stroudsburg, Pa.

Atlantic 1 Region at East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
1.    *East Stroudsburg (38-16)
2.    West Chester (36-17)
3.    West Virginia Wesleyan (43-15)
4.     Bowie State (35-14)

Atlantic 2 Region at Charleston, West Virginia
1.    Shippensburg (32-18)
2.    *Charleston (West Virginia) (40-9)
3.    Kutztown (29-24)
4.    Davis & Elkins (29-26)