Cleveland, Ohio, is the home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Penn College softball coach Angela Stackhouse hopes that her squad does some rock ‘n’ rolling of its own there later this week.

Playing what Stackhouse called the program’s “most difficult” regular-season schedule to date paid postseason dividends, and now her team will compete starting on Thursday in the NCAA Division III Cleveland Regional Championships.

In United East playoff games, the fourth-seeded Wildcats went 4-2, knocking off fifth-seeded St. Elizabeth University twice, top-seeded Penn State Berks and third-seeded Penn State Harrisburg to finish second in the conference to Penn State Brandywine. Because Brandywine is a provisional member of the NCAA and ineligible to advance, Penn College is moving on for the second year in a row and the third time in five full seasons under Stackhouse.

“Our strength of schedule has carried us through the postseason so far. When you match up against tough teams from Day 1 of the season, it becomes comfortable by the time you get to postseason play. You figure out ways to win and what your weaknesses are long before it matters, and it allows you to prepare your team to the best of their ability,” Stackhouse said.

The coach continued, “If you are the four seed or the one seed, you start in the same bracket. I am willing to match this team up against anyone and know that we have the ability to compete and be comfortable doing it. The more you do it, the more relaxed and competitive you can be.”

Down the stretch, as many as four freshmen were in the starting lineup, and over the last two games, seven first-year players saw action. Among them was Mackenzi Tice of Mansfield, who teamed with senior Mackenzie Weaver of Montoursville throughout the season in the circle. Weaver started 23 games and Tice 16, but in the UE Final Four, Tice got the opening nod and picked up wins against Berks and Harrisburg.

“Tice has grown up quickly in the late part of the season. Throwing a no-hitter in Round 2 of the conference tournament (against St. Elizabeth) showed me she was ready to serve in that capacity. Both pitchers have put together a great body of work, and she has come on at the exact right moment for our team,” Stackhouse said.

“We are young, and that has shown in moments throughout the season. We have also experienced a lot of big learning moments and have been able to keep moving in the right direction. We understand that competing and giving everyone we face a good game will get us to where we want to go. We also had several extra-inning battles throughout the regular season, and that certainly helped us come up big in those innings during the final four,” Stackhouse said.

Penn College, 28-15 overall and seeded fourth in the region, opens play at 11 a.m. on Thursday against top-seeded University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (35-6) at Case Western Reserve’s Mather Park in Cleveland, Ohio. Wisconsin-Whitewater earned an at-large bid into the tournament field and is making its 23rd NCAA appearance. The Warhawks are two-time national runners-up in 1987 and 2008, while reaching the national semifinals in the 1984, 1985 and 2014 seasons.

Also in the four-team Cleveland Regional field are second-seeded Case Western Reserve (28-10) and third-seeded Lebanon Valley College (29-13), which clash at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday in the double-elimination tournament, where play continues on Friday and Saturday.

Teams advancing from each of the 15 regional sites will compete in the super regional round on May 22-23. The finals will be held May 29-June 4 at Inspiration Field in Bloomington, Illinois.

Case Western, a national semifinalist last year, needed an at-large bid to host the regional tournament. The Spartans went 16-4 in the University Athletic Association and had a victory over defending NCAA D-III Champion East Texas Baptist and last season’s national runner-up Belhaven this season. Lebanon Valley earned its trip to the postseason with a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship.

Earlier this season, Penn College and Lebanon Valley met three common opponents. Both teams split against Messiah University. Lebanon Valley beat FDU Florham twice, and Penn College lost once. Lebanon Valley split against Lycoming College, and Penn College posted a sweep. In a 2022 head-to-head matchup, Lebanon Valley edged the Wildcats 1-0.

In two previous regional trips, last season and in 2021, the Wildcats have gone 0-4.

“Our goal all season has been to get back to the NCAA tournament and go win a game. I told them it starts with one win, we’ve got to get that first one before we expect to move on in our goal setting,” Stackhouse said. “We have matched up well with LVC in the past. On paper, it looks like we can compete against each team. Our keys will be having great at-bats and the ability to put runs on the board, along with the solid pitching we have been getting all season.”