0

SportsBlog

Softball Conference Tournaments Start Wednesday

The regular season for college softball is over and now conference tournaments for Division I teams kickoff this week around the country. On Wednesday, the SEC, SWAC and Conference USA tournaments all get started with opening-round action.

SWAC

All the teams that made their respective conference tournaments will be in action on Wednesday. One notable exception is Jackson State University. The Tigers failed to make the SWAC tournament this season.

In the SWAC, the http://www.swac.org/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=210632602&DB_OEM_ID=27400">top four teams in the East and the top four teams in West make the tournament. Jackson State finished dead last in the East and failed to qualify. The Tigers finished with just six conference wins, which is tied for second fewest wins with the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

JSU missing the tournament means conference http://www.swac.org/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=632788&SPID=93269&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210941793&DB_OEM_ID=27400">Player of the Year and Hitter of the Year Canessa Swanson’s career as a Tiger is over. It also means the best player in the conference misses the tournament.

The SWAC tournament will be played at Ironside, Ala., at the Shea Brothers Softball Complex. The complex has two fields, so http://www.swac.org/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=27400&ATCLID=210944414">two games will happen at once.

Alcorn State University finished second in the East and will begin play in the tournament against Prairie View A&M University, which finished third in the West. That game begins at 3 p.m.

SWAC Coach of the Year Josef Rankin and SWAC Newcomer of the Year Paige Breal leads the Braves. If ASU wins, the team will play at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday but if the team loses, the Braves will play at 5 p.m. that day.

While Alcorn State is facing Prairie View A&M on field one, Mississippi Valley State University, which finished No. 3 in the East, will take on Southern University, which finished No. 2 in the West, on field two at 3 p.m. The Delta Devils will play on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. if they win and 5 p.m. if they lose.

The championship game for the SWAC will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m., and fans can watch it on ESPN3. A tape-delayed replay will show on ESPNU at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Conference USA

Day one of the C-USA Tournament is http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/050816aaa.html">single elimination. The http://www.conferenceusa.com/championships/w-softbl-championship-16.html">University of Southern Mississippi is the No. 3 seed in the tournament but will be in action on day one.

The Golden Eagles will face the winner between No. 6 seed University of Texas-El Paso and No. 7 seed Florida International University. USM will not play until the final game of day one at 7:30 p.m.

If USM wins, the team will play No. 2 seed University of Alabama-Birmingham at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The top seed in the C-USA tournament is Florida Atlantic University.

Interesting note: The University of North Texas is hosting the tournament but didn’t make it. The championship game for C-USA will be played on Saturday at noon, and CBS Sports Network will televise it.

SEC

Just like the C-USA Tournament, the SEC Softball Tournament is http://secsports.go.com/bracket/softball?fe">single elimination on day one. Both the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State will be in action on day one.

The Rebels will be in action as the No. 9 seed against No. 8 seed University of Georgia. The game will be played at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network. If UM wins they will face the University of Florida at 4 p.m. on Thursday, also on the SEC Network.

MSU will end http://www.secsports.com/article/15495789/sec-tournament-televised-sec-network-espnu-espn">day one of the SEC tournament. The Bulldogs are the No. 12 seed and will take on No. 5 seed University of Alabama. This game will be at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. If the Bulldogs win, they will face No. 4 seed Auburn University at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The championship game of the SEC tournament will be played at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and ESPN will broadcast it. Florida is the top seed, and the University of Kentucky is the No. 2 seed.

Each winner of the conference tournaments will receive an automatic bid to the 2016 Women’s College World Series.

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment