SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Endicott College will be the top seed for The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) softball championship, which begins with opening-round games on Monday, May 2.

The Gulls (32-6 overall), currently ranked third in the NCAA Division III New England regional rankings, earned the top seed by virtue of their stellar 23-1 conference record.

A pair of single-elimination opening round games will take place Monday.  Monday’s tournament action will include #5 seed Roger Williams (17-22 overall, 15-9 TCCC) hosting #8 seed Salve Regina (15-25, 12-12) at 3:00 p.m., and #6 seed Curry (20-20, 14-10)  hosting #7 seed New England College (15-19, 13-11) at 4:00 p.m.  The winners of Monday’s games will advance to the double-elimination phase of the tournament which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 3. 

The winner of the Salve Regina vs. Roger Williams contest will face #4 seed University of New England (25-15, 17-7) at 2:30 p.m. on the campus of Endicott College.  The winner of that game will face top-seeded Endicott 20 minutes after the end of the first game.

The winner of the New England College vs. Curry matchup will face #3 seed Nichols (22-15,17-7) at 2:30 p.m. on the campus of Western New England.  The winner of that game will face #2 seed WNE (25-15, 18-6) 20 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

TCCC tiebreaking procedures were used to break a tie for the number three seed.  Nichols and UNE finished tied for third place with 17-7 records.  Nichols was awarded the third seed by virtue of a doubleheader sweep on UNE on April 16.

Tournament action will continue through the week, culminating with the championship game on Saturday, May 7. The TCCC tournament champion will earn an automatic berth in the upcoming 2011 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

Click here to view the full tournament schedule

Click here to view the tournament bracket