DALLAS – The 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Softball Championship field has been set following the conclusion of the league's final regular-season series on Sunday afternoon. Eight teams, including C-USA Regular-Season Co-Champions Louisiana Tech and North Texas, will battle for the league’s postseason crown and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth May 8-11 at UAB's Mary Bowers Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
2019 C-USA Softball Championship Bracket
Championship Central
C-USA Overall Stats
C-USA Only Stats
Wednesday’s first round will follow a single elimination format with all four games being broadcast on ESPN+. No. 5 Southern Miss and No. 8 UTSA meet in the tourney opener at 12 p.m. CT. No. 6 Middle Tennessee and No. 7 UTEP follow in the second game at 2:30 p.m. After receiving single byes into the first round’s evening slate, No. 4 Marshall will face off against the winner of the Golden Eagles and Roadrunners at 5 p.m. Third-seeded WKU will await the winner of the Blue Raiders and Miners to close opening-round action at 7:30 p.m.
No. 1 seed North Texas earned a double bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals after landing atop the East Division standings. Co-Champ and second seed Louisiana Tech also grabbed the automatic bid into the second round. The Mean Green will make its first appearance at 2 p.m. with the possibility of facing seeds No. 4, 5 or 8. The Lady Techsters are slated for the 4:30 p.m. tilt and anticipate either the three, six or seven seeds as their opponent.
North Texas' first-year head coach Rodney DeLong led Austin Peay to a program-record single-season win total, tied for the largest turnaround in Division I, in his only season with the Governors in 2018. Now at the helm of the Mean Green unit, the squad has captured its first-ever regular-season title and bested its mark for single-season victories en route to a top seed in the conference championship.
The Lady Techsters also clinched their first-ever share of a C-USA regular-season crown in the finale late Saturday afternoon, a title that now has a meaning bigger than softball. Louisiana Tech heads to Birmingham with one championship under its belt, looking to snag another in light of a tornado that destroyed the team's home field nearly two weeks ago. The squad also posted a league-best 41 wins overall, just the sixth time in program history to do so.
The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on Friday will act as a double elimination setup until two teams remain and punch their tickets to the championship. The team to claim the winner’s bracket semifinal at 12 p.m. will have nearly a day to rest up before the final on Sunday. The first loser’s bracket game will follow at 2:30 p.m. with the second following at 5 p.m. The championship game will be played on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT and broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Games one through nine (first round through semifinals) will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live streaming and stats links will can be found on the C-USA Championship Central page (link above).