UMass eyes a home run

For the 10th time in its history, and second year in a row, the University of Massachusetts softball team will host an NCAA regional. The Minutewomen (37-12) are seeded second in the Amherst Regional, and will face third-seeded Long Island Friday at 4:30 p.m. Oklahoma, seeded third in Division 1 and first in the regional, will play Colgate at 2 p.m.

Harvard, meanwhile, will be in Hempstead, N.Y. The Crimson (31-13) will take on regional host Hofstra Friday after No. 8 overall seed Baylor plays America East champ Albany at noon.

The double-elimination regionals end Sunday.

NCAA Division 2 -- C.W. Post advanced to the College World Series in Akron, Ohio, with a 4-1 win over Bryant in Brookville, N.Y. Earlier, Bryant eliminated UMass-Lowell with a 2-0 victory.

NCAA Division 3 -- Justine Burgess and Kristyn Alexander each drove in a pair of runs for Rhode Island College, which scored four runs in the top of the seventh en route to an 8-4 victory over Tufts in the Northeast Regional final in Providence. The Anchorwomen are one of eight teams that will travel to Salem, Va., this week to determine a national champion. Earlier, Tufts advanced to meet Rhode Island College by beating Wellesley, 5-0.

ECAC Division 3 -- Shelby Slie pitched a complete game and didn't allow a run as Western Connecticut routed Western New England, 7-1, to win the New England title.

Northeast-10 -- Franklin Pierce took two games from Bryant in Lowell to win the conference championship. Keith Renaud scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the seventh inning as the Ravens won the second game, 4-3. In the first game, Scott Savastano broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth with a run-scoring single and the Ravens went on to win, 4-2.

NESCAC -- Williams scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat Tufts, 8-5, in Williamstown, win the conference title, and receive an automatic berth in the Division 3 NCAA sectionals. Ryan Fote's single drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth, and Rob Allemand's bloop hit plated two more.

ECAC Division 3 -- In Plymouth, N.H., Wes Downing scored three goals and added an assist for Plymouth State, which rallied from a three-goal deficit in the second half to overtake Roger Williams, 10-7, in the New England championship game.

NCAA Division 1 -- Former Westwood High stars Kristen Kjellman and Meredith Frank registered hat tricks as defending national champion Northwestern routed Holy Cross, 19-7, in the first round in Evanston, Ill. Patricia Sutton and Kristine Corkum scored two goals each for Holy Cross (13-6). Aly Josephs also scored three goals for the top-seeded Wildcats (18-1) . . . In Philadelphia, Rachel Manson scored three goals to lead Penn past Boston University, 11-5, in a first-round game. Lauren Morton scored twice for the Terriers (13-6) . . . In College Park, Md., Ellen Cameron stopped 13 shots but Yale was unable to deny Maryland, which prevailed, 13-7, in a first-round game.

NCAA Division 3 -- Claire Edelen scored twice for the Panthers, including the winner with 12 seconds to play, as Middlebury advanced to the semifinals for the 14th straight year with an 11-10 victory over The College of New Jersey in Middlebury, Vt. The loss kept the Lions from getting to the semifinals for the first time in the 24-year history over the tournament.

ECAC Division 3 -- Framingham's Annie Pinault, Southborough's Meg Cupoli, and Kelsey MacDonald of Oak Bluffs each scored three goals for Plymouth State, which raced to a 9-1 lead in the first 15 minutes of their 16-7 New England championship victory over Curry in Plymouth, N.H.