DEMOREST, Ga. – The 14^th-ranked Piedmont University softball team has put together another excellent season under the guidance of head coach Terry Martin, but the Lady Lions aren't finished just yet as they begin play in the NCAA Regional Tournament on Friday, May 13.
 
The Lady Lions will take on Hiram College at 2:00 p.m. ET in Greencastle, Indiana on Friday to start play in the program's third consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament appearance. The Greencastle regional features Piedmont, Hiram, No. 10 Berry, and regional host No. 8 DePauw.
 
Piedmont finds itself back at No. 14 in the country after last week's sweep of Wesleyan in the USA South Tournament Championship Series. The team's second straight conference championship earned the Lady Lions an auto-bid to this national tournament field.
 
ABOUT THE LADY LIONS
Piedmont is aiming to advance to its first ever NCAA Super-Regional Tournament with a regional championship this weekend. The Lady Lions enter the weekend at 31-9 overall on the year, meaning three more wins would tie the 2013 team for the second-most wins in a single season in program history.  
 
With a 15-1 record in conference play, the Lady Lions have lost just one game since they traveled to the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia on March 4-6 and are riding a 13-game winning streak into the national tournament.
 
Friday's game will be the first ever meeting between Piedmont and Hiram College, but the Lady Lions have already faced their other two regional opponents this season.
 
Then-No.17 Berry College was in Demorest way back on February 19-20 for the Piedmont classic. Berry took the first meeting 10-4 before Piedmont evened the series with a 4-3 win the next day.
 
Piedmont also took on then-No. 1 DePauw at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on March 6. The Lady Lions led for most of the game after a leadoff inside-the-park home run from REBEKAH STEGMAYER, but ultimately fell 2-1 to the Tigers.
 
Piedmont has lost just one game since that matchup with DePauw.  
 
ABOUT THE TERRIERS
The Hiram College Terriers hail from Hiram, Ohio and will feel right at home at this regional after having just won three games on this field last week to win the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
Hiram defeated their conference foe and regional host DePauw twice last week in Greencastle to claim the title and earn an auto bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Terriers were the No. 2 seed in the NCAC Tournament and split their four games with DePauw during the year.
 
The Terriers enter the regional tournament at 24-14 overall with a 13-3 mark in the NCAC. Their longest win streak of the season lasted nine games, with eight of those wins coming against conference opponents.
 
Head coach Scott Pohlman, now in his sixth season, has recorded back-to-back winning seasons for the Terriers. It's the first time the program has had back-to-back winning seasons since 2011-2012.
 
This is the first NCAA Regional appearance for the Terriers since 2011.
 
ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Berry College has been as consistent as a program can be this season as the Vikings have been a mainstay in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll en route to claiming their first Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Tournament Championships since 2018.
 
Now ranked No. 10 in the country, the Vikings have a 6-6 record versus ranked teams in 2022, including a 1-2 record versus its regional opponents. Berry split a pair of games with Piedmont way back in mid-February before losing a close 3-1 game to DePauw on March 6 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
 
The Vikings were dominant in their four games of the SAA Tournament, taking the final game 10-0 over then-No. 9 Birmingham-Southern back on April 30. Berry's game versus DePauw on Friday will be the team's first action in 13 days.
 
At 29-11 overall, the Vikings are tied for the second-most losses of any team currently ranked in the NFCA Top 25 but have been rewarded for playing one of the more challenging schedules in the country. At 15-3 in conference play, Berry's longest winning streak of the season was capped at nine games.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
Regional host DePauw began the season ranked No. 1 in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll after a historic run to the NCAA Championships in 2021 that saw the Tigers be among the final four teams competing in Salem, Virginia.
 
While a 5-5 start to 2022 bumped the Tigers out of the top spot, the team from Greencastle has had no shortage of success since that time.
 
Back-to-back wins over two of its regional opponents – Piedmont and Berry – on March 6 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic was the start of a stellar stretch that saw the Tigers win 28 out of 29 games. Their only loss during that stretch was a 13-12 defeat in 12 innings at then-No. 18 Chapman.
 
Despite a 34-9 overall record for head coach Erica Hanrahan's team, the Tigers dropped their regular-season finale to regional opponent Hiram, then went just 3-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. The Tigers lost the tournament championship game to Hiram 5-2 their last time out on Sunday, May 8.
 
This regional marks the eighth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the Tigers.  

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