FRISCO, Texas – McNeese secured the No. 1 seed in the 2022 Southland Conference Softball Tournament as the bracket has been set for this year's double-elimination tournament. McNeese finished the season with a 15-3 Southland record, 35-19 overall, to earn their conference-best seventh regular-season title and first since 2017. The championship match is slated for a noon start Friday, May 13. All games will be on ESPN+.
The Cowgirls earned the top seed following a sweep of Nicholls (4-14 SLC) in the final weekend of play. McNeese earns the double-elimination tournament's only bye and will play Wednesday, May 11 at 11 a.m. CT against the winner of Tuesday's opening game at noon between No. 4 seed Northwestern State (10-8 SLC) and UIW (5-13 SLC). The Cowgirls have won four of the last five tournament titles that have been played (2016, 2017, 2018, 2021). The 2020 tournament wasn't played due to Covid. The Cowgirls will look to defend their 2021 tournament title and earn their eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Southeastern (14-4 SLC) sealed the No. 2 seed and will serve as host for this year's tournament, which begins Tuesday, May 10, at North Oak Park in Hammond, La. Rick Fremin earned his 200th win as the Lady Lions head coach over the weekend, as SLU took three from Northwestern State in the regular-season series finale.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, under the direction of first-year coach Kathleen Rodriguez, earned the No. 3 seed after finishing with an 11-7 mark in conference play. The Islanders are making their first Southland tournament appearance since 2015 and will square off against No. 6 seed HBU (4-14 SLC) on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Northwestern State rounded out its regular-season slate with a 10-6 conference record and the tournament's No. 4 seed. The Lady Demons match up with No. 5 seed UIW in the opening game. UIW moved into the No. 5 slot after a 3-2 Senior Day win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earlier today.
Tuesday's nightcap will feature host Southeastern against No. 7 seed Nicholls (4-14), who missed last year's tournament but had made the conference finals in 2017-2019.
Due to the double-elimination format of the tournament, if a rematch of the championship game is necessary, it will be played immediately following the completion of the scheduled noon final.
The Southland Tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Regional competition at the NCAA Tournament will be held May 20-22 at sites to be determined.
TOURNAMENT SEEDS
No. 1 – McNeese (35-19, 15-3 SLC)
No. 2 – Southeastern (37-14, 14-4 SLC)
No. 3 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-25, 11-7 SLC)
No. 4 – Northwestern State (28-20, 10-8 SLC)
No. 5 – UIW (15-34, 5-13 SLC)
No. 6 – Houston Baptist (14-27, 4-14 SLC)
No. 7 – Nicholls (12-36, 4-14 SLC)
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Opening Round – Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Noon - Game 1 - No. 4 Northwestern State vs. No. 5 UIW (ESPN+)
2:30 p.m. - Game 2 - No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 6 HBU (ESPN+)
5 p.m. – Game 3 – No. 2 Southeastern vs. No. 7 Nicholls (ESPN+)
Second Round – Wednesday, May 11, 2022
11 a.m. - Game 4 - No. 1 McNeese vs. Winner Game 1 (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - Game 5 – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 (ESPN+)
4 p.m. – Game 6 - Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3 (ESPN+)
6:30 p.m. – Game 7 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 5 (ESPN+)
Third Round – Thursday, May 12, 2022
11 a.m. - Game 8 – Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 6 (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - Game 9 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (ESPN+)
4 p.m. – Game 10 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (ESPN+)
6:30 p.m. – Game 11 - Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 (ESPN+)
Championship – Friday, May 13, 2022
Noon - Championship - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11 (ESPN+)
TBD – If Necessary Game
