UNCG Earns First-Round Bye for Sixth-Straight Year
Southern Conference Announces 2023 Softball Tournament Bracket
SPARTANBURG, S.C.– The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team begins its quest in the 2023 Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament as the No. 1 seed in Chattanooga, Tennessee at Frost Stadium.
The Spartans will play on Thursday, May 11 against the winner of No. 4 Western Carolina and No. 5 Mercer at 12:30 p.m. The Catamounts and Bears face off on Wednesday, May 10 at 10:00 a.m.
The double-elimination tournament features three games Wednesday, five Thursday, three Friday and the championship game Saturday, with a second game that day if necessary.
UNCG (34-20, 13-4 SoCon) completed a sweep of Western Carolina with a 6-0 win on Sunday to claim the top seed. The Spartans enter the SoCon Championship on a five-game winning streak in conference games. UNCG has outscored its opponents 34-9 during its current win streak and the Spartans lead the league in seven offensive statistical categories, including home runs (62), RBIs (269) and runs scored (278).
With that top seed, the Spartans earned a bye to Thursday’s action at the tournament and will take on either No. 4 seed Western Carolina or No. 5 seed Mercer, who kick off the tournament at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday. UNCG swept Western Carolina this weekend and the Spartans took two of three from Mercer on April 28-29.
Western Carolina (20-24, 8-10) closed out the regular season with losses to UNCG. The Catamounts’ last win came on May 4 in a midweek game against North Carolina Central, which came after Western Carolina swept ETSU on April 29-30. Mercer (18-35, 8-10) closed the regular season by dropping two of three against ETSU over the weekend.
The Catamounts took two of three from Mercer on April 22-23, sweeping the Saturday doubleheader before the Bears avoided the series sweep on Sunday.
Samford (23-29, 12-6) claimed the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face No. 7 seed ETSU (15-35, 6-12) on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. This will be the second straight championship that the Bulldogs and Buccaneers face off in the first round, with Samford winning the matchup in the opening round a season ago, 4-3, in nine innings. Samford finished the regular season with a sweep of Chattanooga, while ETSU closed its regular season campaign taking two of three games from Mercer, including a 4-3 victory in 12 innings to open the series on Saturday.
Samford won two of three games during the two squads’ series on April 6-7.
No. 3 seed Furman (20-30, 8-9) and No. 6 seed Chattanooga (24-25, 7-11) will meet on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Mocs swept the Paladins on April 29-30, which was the final conference games for Furman this season. Chattanooga, which is the defending SoCon tournament champion, come into this year’s tournament on a three-game losing streak after being swept by Samford.
2023 SoCon Softball Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Wednesday, May 10
Game 1: No. 4 Western Carolina vs. No. 5 Mercer, 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Samford vs. No. 7 ETSU, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Furman vs. No. 6 Chattanooga, 3 p.m.
Thursday, May 11
Game 4: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 5: No. 1 UNCG vs. Game 1 winner, 12:30 p.m.
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 3 p.m.
Game 7: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 loser, 5:30 p.m.
Game 8: Game 1 loser vs. Game 6 loser, 8 p.m.
Friday, May 12
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 10 a.m.
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 12:30 p.m.
Game 11: Game 10 winner vs. Game 9 loser, 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 13
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 13 (if necessary): Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser, 3 p.m.
Courtesy of Denise Archetto
Assistant Athletic Director For Strategic Communications
UNC Greensboro