SHSU Women No. 3 Seed at Southland Tournament
5/4/2014 4:32:00 PM | Softball
Sam Houston will be the No. 3 seed at the Southland Conference softball tournament which runs Thursday through Saturday (May 8-10) in Hammond, Louisiana.
Two-time regular season champion McNeese State will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament which will be hosted by Southeastern Louisiana. Northwestern State, last year's tournament winner, will be seeded No. 2.
Stephen F. Austin, Houston Baptist and Central Arkansas, respectively, will fill out the bracket as the No. 4, 5 and 6 seeds.
The winner of the post-season tournament earns the Southland's automatic berth in the NCAA Softball Championships.
Sam Houston will take on Central Arkansas in Thursday's opening round in a contest scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch. SFA and HBU open the tournament with an 11 a.m. contest Thursday.
If Sam Houston wins, the Bearkats face the Demons in the second round Thursday night. If Central Arkansas wins, the Kats will play an elimination game Friday at 11 a.m.
Sam Houston is making its12th Southland Conference post-season appearance this year. The Bearkats own a 30-18 record in Southland tournament play. Only Northwestern State (40), Texas State (36) and McNeese (35) own more tournament wins than SHSU.
Sam Houston won the tournament championship in 1988 and 2007. The Kats have reached the Southland finals five times, finishing as runners-up in 2005, 2012 and 2013.
In the 26-year history of the Southland softball tournament, the No. 1 seed has won the championship 12 times. Four No. 2 seeds won tournament titles and twice the No. 3 seed earned the NCAA Berth.
The 2014 Southland Softball Tournament, with the exception of the championship game, will be streamed live for free on the Southland Conference Digital Network, including Southland.org and the league's mobile/tablet apps, available at: Southland.org/apps. The championship game of the tournament will be carried exclusively on ESPN3, Saturday, May 10 at 2 p.m.
The Southland Digital Network is available at southland.org, as well as the official SLC mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. ESPN3 programming can be found on WatchESPN.com, plus the WatchESPN app for iPhone, iPad, Android and XBOX Live systems.
Adult all-tournament tickets are available for $20 and $15 for youth. Tickets will also be available for each day of the tournament. A single-day pass is $10 and $8 for youth. To purchase tickets, contact the Southeastern Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at 985-549-5466 or visit the university's athletic tickets website at www.LionSports.net
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: No. 4 Stephen F. Austin (24-25) vs. No. 5 Houston Baptist (21-25), 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Sam Houston (26-25) vs. No. 6 Central Arkansas (24-32), 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 1 McNeese (38-15) vs. Winner Game 1, 4 p.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Northwestern State (27-20) vs. Winner Game 2, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, May 9
Game 5: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 10
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 10:30 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 2 p.m.
Game 11*: Winner 7 vs. Winner Game 9 (if necessary)
