Texas State Softball Earns No. 3 Seed In Sun Belt Conference Tournament

by, Jen Lawson

2016 Softball Championship Bracket

NEW ORLEANS – The Texas State softball team clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Championship tournament after defeating UT Arlington on Senior Day by a score of 8-0. The Bobcats won 11 out of the last 12 conference games including the last 10 straight to earn its spot in the rankings.

This is the second-straight season that Texas State has earned the No. 3 seed. The Bobcats are seeking their first conference tournament victory since joining the league in 2013. Texas State will sit for the first round of games and will play the winner of No. 6 Troy/No. 7 UT Arlington at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

UL Lafayette claimed a 14th regular season softball title in 16 years and earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament set to begin Wednesday, May 11 in Mobile, Ala. The Ragin’ Cajuns and South Alabama, the host school, will begin play Thursday after earning a bye through the first day.

The top four seeds will play at minimum two games at the conference tournament, due to earning byes into the double elimination portion of the tournament. The morning session on Wednesday will feature two single elimination games with double elimination beginning in the afternoon.

Georgia State (30-26, 13-11) took two from Georgia Southern over the weekend to clinch the No. 4 seed. With the series win over the Eagles, the Panthers have now won 30 or more games in each of the last 10 seasons. GSU will begin its tournament on Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT against the winner of No. 5 Georgia Southern (30-26, 13-11) vs. No. 8 UL Monroe (23-32, 7-17).

Georgia Southern earned the No. 5 seed and will kick off the tournament on Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT against No. 8 seed UL Monroe. The Eagles claimed the series 2-1 when the two squads met in April during the regular season.

Rounding out the bracket are the No. 6 seeded Troy Trojans (30-23, 11-13) and the No. 7 seeded UT Arlington Mavericks (29-19, 8-16). The Trojans and the Mavericks will square off at 12:30 p.m. CT.

The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship will be played at Jaguar Field in Mobile Ala., and hosted by the University of South Alabama. The first two days of games will be streamed live on the Sun Belt Digital Network, with the Friday games and Saturday championship game being carried by ESPN3. The championship game will be played at 1:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 14.

2016 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship Schedule

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

G1          No. 5 Georgia Southern vs. No. 8 UL Monroe – 10:00 AM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

G2          No. 6 Troy vs. No. 7 UT Arlington – 12:30 PM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

G3          Winner G1 vs. No. 4 Georgia State – 3:00 PM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

G4          Winner G2 vs. No. 3 Texas State – 5:30 PM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

Thursday, May 12, 2014

G5          No. 1 UL Lafayette vs. Winner G3 – 10:00 AM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

G6          No. 2 South Alabama vs. Winner G4 – 12:30 PM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

G7          Loser G4 vs. Loser G5 – 3:00 PM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

G8          Loser G3 vs. Loser G6 – 5:30 PM (Sun Belt Digital Network)

Friday, May 13, 2016

G9          Winner G5 vs. Winner G6 – 11:00 AM (ESPN3)

G10        Winner G7 vs. Winner G8 – 2:00 PM (ESPN3)

G11        Loser G9 vs. Winner G10 – 5:00 PM (ESPN3)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Championship Game

G12        Winner G9 vs. Winner G11 – 1:00 PM (ESPN3)

All times C.T. and subject to change