Updated Softball Championship Bracket (PDF)
XENIA, Ohio – Dodging some potentially problematic weather conditions, eight games of the Great Midwest Softball Championship bracket were successfully completed on Thursday at the Athletes in Action Sports Complex.
Two different fields were utilized as the championship field started with eight and was trimmed down to six at the end of the day.
The first day of the conference tournament will filled with intrigue, standout performances and upsets with the championship trophy and the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional bid on the line.
A temporary lightning delay with quick rain came through the area around noon, but play quickly resumed. The last contest of the day fittingly went into extra innings as Kentucky Wesleyan and Ohio Dominican had to move fields to play the final inning due to darkness.
But how about Kentucky Wesleyan – the No. 7 seed going in figured to be a dangerous draw with the title of defending league champions and preseason coaches poll favorites. The Panthers are healthy and back to mashing the ball with regularity that people saw at last year’s conference tournament.
First, the Panthers handed No. 2 seed Findlay the Oilers’ first loss of the tourney. Maci Brown was brilliant with a four-hit shutout performance that included eight strikeouts. UF had beaten KWC twice during the regular season back on March 23 in both team’s first conference games.
Sophomore first team all-conference second baseman Lexie Mullen had a day to remember with a 7-for-8 day at the plate, including a no-doubter for her eighth home run of the season crushed to left center.
Mullen also went 5-for-5 in the nightcap to help KWC emerge in a slugfest against No. 3 Ohio Dominican, an 11-10 final that went to the eighth inning.
Findlay and Cedarville are set up for a No. 2 vs. No. 1 consolation matchup – a true survive and advance game this morning at 11 AM ET.
Hillsdale rocked the bracket by taking down two programs that have traditionally had their share of success, No. 5 seed Trevecca and No. 1 seed/regular-season conference champ Cedarville.
Freshman pitcher Erin Hunt, another first-team all-conference pick, locked down the Trojans in the opener with 12 strikeouts in six innings as the Chargers wrapped things up an inning early of regulation. Hunt was then called upon to silence the stingy Yellow Jackets in the winner’s bracket and delivered once again with a 10-strikeout gem in a pitcher’s duel against CU’s Morgan Arbogast.
Hillsdale scored the winning run in the top of the fifth inning on a pinch-hit RBI single off the bat from Dana Johnson; the Chargers had two potential insurance runs wiped out in the late stages as Katie Kish, vying for a .500 season batting line, was called out at the plate for stepping out of the box, nullifying a two-run double to the gap.
Trevecca’s 30th win of the season included an 11-run outburst to officially eliminate No. 8 Lake Erie from playoff contention. No. 6 Davis & Elkins suffered the same fate as the Storm in a pair of close outcomes against Findlay and ODU.
UF’s Destinie Keeton went yard for the Oilers to help stay alive while Cedarville’s Sarah Parsons launched a three-run blast in the Yellow Jackets’ first win of the day against Lake Erie.
The Great Midwest Championship will resume on Friday morning starting at 11 a.m. ET