LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- The road to the national championship begins on Friday for the Bellarmine University softball team as they open up the NCAA Tournament with Ashland University in the first game of the Midwest Region in Allendale, Mich.

That road will end on the Knights' home turf, Knights Field, on May 19th as part of the NCAA D-II Spring Festival cohosted by Bellarmine and the Louisville Sports Commission.

A program that started in 1978, this will mark the first time that Bellarmine (32-27) has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Knights are also just one win shy of setting a new school record for most wins in a season, a record that is owned by the 1980 and 1995 teams.

The Knights will look to rely heavily on their quartet of All-GLVC performers as Lauren Summe and Megan Murdoch were named the first team and Alicia Miller and Kayla Padgett earned second team honors.  Murdoch's 2012 season will go down as one of the best all-time at Bellarmine as the junior from Indianapolis has set single-season school records for home runs (13) and RBIs (50). Her next home run will also move her into sole possession of the home runs in a career record that she currently shares with Jordan Basham.

Meanwhile, Summe has hit safely in her last ten games dating back to the regular season home finale against Southern Indiana. During that stretch she has batted 16-for-34 (.470) with three home runs and seven RBIs.

Hitting home runs has the fuel for the Knights, ranking second in the GLVC with 51 on the year. Murdoch (13), Madi Ratliff (11), Summe (9) and Scarlett Powers (9) have all cracked the program's single-season top-ten list for homers.

Bellarmine and Ashland (40-15) have already seen each other once this season, splitting a doubleheader at Knights Field in late February. The Eagles won game 7-3, getting a 10-strikeout performance from starting pitcher Emlyn Knerem. The senior pitcher who will likely start for Ashland comes into the tournament with a 1.59 ERA and a 27-5 record.

Bellarmine turned the tables on Ashland in game two, scoring six runs in the first two innings and getting home runs from Murdoch and Ratliff win easily 7-2.  Ratliff, a junior from Louisville, had three home runs in the series while getting intentionally walked twice.

The format for the regional is double-elimination with host Grand Valley State playing St. Joseph's College in the other game. First pitch between Bellarmine and Ashland is scheduled for noon at GVSU Softball Field.

Midwest Regional Tournament Central