Bellarmine University will move to Division I, beginning the four-year transition during the 2020-2021 athletic year. The school announced the realignment plans earlier in June.
The Knights of Bellarmine currently compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the Division II level. The program will join the ASun Conference in Division I, moving that league’s membership to ten teams in seven states. The Knights’ addition to the ASun’s softball ranks will move the league to nine competing teams on the diamond.
The Bellarmine softball program finished the 2019 season with a 22-27 overall record and a 10-16 mark in GLVC play. After the season, junior Rachel Ayer and freshman Hannah Webb were named to the all-conference first- and third-teams, respectively. The Knights are led by head coach Renee Hicks, who is the winningest coach in program history and enters her 17th season at the program’s helm in 2020.
As part of the four-year transition process, Bellarmine will not be eligible for the NCAA postseason until the 2024-25 athletic season. As part of the ASun, and similar to new league foe North Alabama who made the D2-to-D1 transition during the 2018-19 athletic year, the team can participate in the conference’s postseason tournament, should they qualify.
Bellarmine is a private Catholic-based university located in Louisville, Kentucky.
