Tournament Central l Tournament Bracket

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi – After being selected as the No. 12 team in Conference USA’s preseason poll, the North Texas softball team earned the No. 7 seed in the C-USA Championship and will face No. 6 Charlotte on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

The winner advances to play No. 3 Louisiana Tech on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., while the loser’s run for the championship ends in the opening round.

North Texas is 8-2 at neutral sites this season, while the 49ers are 5-6 at neutral sites and dropped two of the three games against Southern Miss at the Southern Miss Softball Complex earlier this year.

The Mean Green and 49ers are no strangers to each other as the squads met for a cross-division series from April 1-2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte swept the series at its home park. Senior Danielle Gregory had a solid series, hitting .333 with a double and one stolen base to her credit. As a team, the Mean Green drew 14 walks.

Senior Kelli Schkade, who was named first-team All-Conference USA, Lindsay and Lacy Gregory, whom garnered a spot on the all-freshman team, will lead North Texas against the 49ers.

Schkade is the team leader in average (.343), hits (62), triples (five), home runs (nine) and multi-hit games (21). Lacy Gregory leads the team with 11 doubles and 34 RBI.

The 49ers will be led by junior Haley Pace, who also earned C-USA first-team honors after leading the 49ers with a .421 average. She tallied 12 doubles, four triples, 15 home runs, 45 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

North Texas is expected to see Haley Wiseman, who threw in each of the three contests earlier this season. Wiseman posted a 3.52 earned-run average en route to a 22-14 record in the circle to go with her 208 strikeouts.