Tournament Bracket
FARMVILLE, Va. – With its second straight Big South regular season championship in hand, the Longwood softball team will be the top seed in the 2016 Big South Championship next week in Rock Hill, S.C., officially announced by the conference office Sunday evening.
Head coach
Kathy Riley's squad secured its second consecutive regular season title following Saturday's game one win over Coastal Carolina where
Jamie Barbour scored the winning run in the seventh inning. It marks the first back-to-back regular season Big South championships for Longwood in school history.
The Lancers will open the Big South Tournament Wednesday, May 11 against the winner of the play-in game against Gardner-Webb and Winthrop. Fourth-seeded Radford and fifth-seeded Campbell are also on Longwood's side of the bracket.
Longwood heads to the tournament seeking its third Big South Championship in the four seasons it has been in the league. The Lancers captured the tournament crown as the No. 2 seed in 2013 after defeating Winthrop in the championship game. Last season, the Lancers went undefeated through the tournament and defeated Presbyterian in the championship game.
The Lancers are led by the dominant pitching duo of
Elizabeth McCarthy and
Sydney Gay, who led the Lancers with a league-best 2.28 ERA. The dynamic duo combined for 290 strikeouts with both players ranking among the top-five in single season strikeouts in program history.
At the plate, the Lancers are led by the senior trio of
Carly Adams,
Jamie Barbour and
Emily Murphy. The trio of seniors will leave Longwood as the program's all-time winningest class. In their four seasons, the trio has amassed 148 career victories, two Big South Championships, two Big South regular season titles, two NCAA Regional appearances and one NCAA Tournament victory.
Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, May 11 (Games 1-5)
Game 1: No. 8 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 9 Winthrop, 9:00am (single elimination)
Game 2: No. 4 Radford vs. No. 5 Campbell, 12:00pm
Game 3: No. 1 Longwood vs. 8/9 Winner, 2:30pm
Game 4: No. 2 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 7 Charleston Southern, 5:00pm
Game 5: No. 3 Liberty vs. No. 6 Presbyterian, 7:30pm
Thursday, May 12 (Games 6-11)
Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 9:00am
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 11:30am
Game 8: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 2:00pm
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 4:30pm
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 7:00pm
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 9, 9:30pm
Friday, May 13 (Games 12-13 [14-15])
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 10:00pm (TV: ESPN3)
Game 13: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 11, 12:30pm (TV: ESPN3)
Game 14: if necessary, 3:00pm ** (TV: ESPN3)
Game 15: if necessary, 5:30pm ** (TV: ESPN3)
Saturday, May 14 (Championship Game)
TBA vs. TBA, 2:00pm (TV: ESPN3)
** - Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 defeats the winner of Game 9. Game 15 will be necessary if the winner of Game 11 defeats the winner of Game 8. If both games are played, they will both be played on Saturday.
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