The tournament will feature eight teams playing a possible 15 games in three days at the Tiger Athletic Complex, home of Bentonville High School softball, with the exception of two losers’-bracket contests Thursday evening at city-owned Memorial Park.
There are eight games scheduled for Thursday, including two losers’-bracket matchups. Five games are on tap for Friday and two for Saturday, which would include the if-necessary game in the double-elimination shootout. Coach Ron Faubion’s young ladies finished second in regular-season conference play with a 22-6 record to first-place University of Arkansas-Monticello’s 21-5.
The difference in first place and second place? How about a winning percentage (GAC games) of .808 for Monticello and .786 for Southeastern.
The LadyStorm will play the second game of the conference tournament, following East Central and Henderson State in the 10 a.m. opener.
Southeastern has two South Central Region games remaining with a doubleheader today at Northeastern en route to Bentonville.
First-round matchups: Thursday, April 26, 2012
10 a.m. – No. 3 East Central Lady Tigers (25-16, 15-11 GAC) vs. No. 6 Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders (24-31, 11-17)
Noon – No. 2 Southeastern LadyStorm (34-14, 22-6) vs. No. 7 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (15-29, 8-18)
2 p.m. – No. 1 University of Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms (36-14, 21-5) vs. No. 8 Ouachita Baptist Lady Tigers (18-29, 6-20)
4 p.m.—No. 4 Southwestern Lady Bulldogs (30-18, 14-14) vs. No. 5 Henderson State Lady Reddies (19-28, 11-17)
Note: Southern Arkansas and Henderson State each had 11-17 conference records. HSU had the tiebreaker against SAU to earn the No. 5 listing.
Games one and two winners will play at 6 p.m. with games three and four winners meeting at 8 p.m. at the Tiger Athletic Complex.
Games one and two losers play at 6 p.m., games three and four losers play at 8 p.m. at Memorial Park in elimination games to wrap up Thursday’s opening day action.
Friday games are scheduled for 11 a.m.; 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m.
Saturday’s championship game is set for noon with the if-necessary game scheduled for 2 p.m.
Final regular-season conference team stats show Southeastern second in batting average at .313 and third in pitching with a 2.07 earned-run average.
Fans may keep up with the action by going to http:/greatamericanconference.com home page for final scores, box scores, game recaps, etc.
All games played at the Tiger Athletic Complex will be webcast live (free for listeners) at http:/greatamericanconference.com. Live stats will also be available.
The Bentonville Convention and Visitors Bureau will host a cookout Wednesday night to officially open the tournament.
Post a Comment
