ONLINE VIDEO // LIVE STATS // CAPTAINS GAME NOTES // GAME PROGRAM // BRACKET // TOURNAMENT SITE

LONGVIEW, TEXAS - Eight college softball teams from across the nation have made the trip to East Texas Baptist University, as the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament heads into the National Finals beginning Thursday. The Captains of Christopher Newport University are seeded fourth in the eight-team field, and the defending National Champions will play the Vikings of Berry University (Ga.) at 2:30 p.m. ET Thursday in one of four games to be played at Bell Park at Taylor Field.

Keith Parr's Captains arrived in Texas on Tuesday, and have a record of 31-11 after beating Virginia Wesleyan University last weekend at Captains Park in the Super Regionals. The 62-team field was cut down from 16 to the Final Eight last Saturday, and CNU ousted the Marlins by winning two of three games to earn it's fourth trip to the National Finals, as well as the second straight. CNU also made it to the finals in back-to-back years 2010 and 2011.

Christopher Newport has now won 15 of its last 16 NCAA Tournament games, and went 10-0 last year in the tourney on the way to the first National Championship in program history. This is the 20th trip to the NCAA's for the Captains in the 39-year history of the program, and CNU teams are now 53-37 in 90 all-time NCAA games.

Berry College is the fifth seed in the finals, and the Vikings and Captains have played just twice before, and both in the recent past. CNU won over Berry in last year's finals in Salem, Va., and also defeated the Vikings back in March at Captains Park, one of only five losses for Berry this season against 41 victories.

Salisbury, a league-mate of the Captains in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, is the top seed as well as the top-ranked team in the country with a record of 44-3. The Sea Gulls will open play at 12 noon ET Thursday against eighth-seeded Moravian (37-10). After the Captains and Vikings battle, second-seeded Linfield (46-4) will play seventh-seeded Coe (37-9) with starting time set for 5:00 p.m. ET. The final game of day one of the finals is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET first pitch, as third-seeded Trine (40-4) will battle sixth-seeded Rowan (41-8).

The National Finals are scheduled to continue through next Wednesday, June 7th. At the top of this story you will find links to make it easy to follow the Captains on their journey to the Lone Star State. There's a link for the online video, live stats, CNU game notes, the official NCAA Game Program, the NCAA Bracket, and the official Tournament Site for the Finals.