SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Softball team has earned the #5 seed for the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament. The Hawks will face the #8 seed Gordon College in the single elimination play-in round on Saturday, April 30 at 5 pm.
After completing the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) regular season with 15-3 (22-14 overall) league record, Western New England, the defending CCC Champions, claimed the No. 1 seed in the 2016 CCC Softball Championship Tournament. The tournament gets underway on Saturday, April 30 with the play-in phase.
Last season the Golden Bears earned the school's first-ever women's CCC title, defeating Endicott, 4-1, in the Championship game. The Gulls earned the second seed this year with a 14-4 (21-14 overall) CCC record, beating out Salve Regina, which also finished 14-4 (19-15 overall), by virtue of a tiebreaker.
Endicott and Salve Regina split their regular season doubleheader, meaning a second tie-breaking step was necessary to break the deadlock. The Gulls were awarded the No. 2 seed having split their two meetings with the top-seeded Golden Bears, while Salve Regina lost both meetings.
Those three teams and the University of New England, the No. 4 seed, will all be advanced directly into the double-elimination phase of the tournament.
The four remaining teams in the tournament field will compete in the single-elimination play-in phase to kick off the Championship on Saturday. No. 5-seed Roger Williams will host No. 8-seed Gordon at 5 p.m. in one pairing. In the other matchup, sixth-seeded Eastern Nazarene will host seventh-seeded Nichols at 4 p.m. The winners will advance to the double-elimination phase.
The six remaining teams will play a double-elimination tournament on three dates-of-competition during the following week. The double-elimination phase will begin on Monday, May 2 with day two taking place on Thursday May 5. The tournament will conclude on Saturday, May 7 with the 2016 CCC Softball Champion being crowned. The CCC Champion will receive the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
2016 CCC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Dates and times subject to change
PLAY-IN PHASE
Saturday, April 30
Game 1 - #8 Gordon at #5 Roger Williams, 5:00 p.m.
Game 2 - #7 Nichols at #6 Eastern Nazarene, 4:00 p.m.
DOUBLE ELIMINATION PHASE
Monday, May 2
Game 3 - Game 1 Winner vs. #4 University of New England (at #1 WNE), TBD
Game 4 - Game 2 Winner vs. #3 Salve Regina (at #2 Endicott), TBD
Game 5 - Game 3 Winner at #1 Western New England *
Game 6 - Game 4 Winner at #2 Endicott *
* Games 5 and 6 begin 20 minutes following the completion of Games 3 and 4, respectively.
Thursday, May 5
Game 7 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser (at WNE), TBD
Game 8 - Game 5 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser (at American International), TBD
Game 9 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner (at WNE) *
Game 10 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner (at American International) *
* Games 9 and 10 begin 20 minutes following the completion of Games 7 and 8, respectively
Saturday, May 7
Game 11 - Game 10 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser (at highest remaining seed), TBD
Game 12 - Game 11 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner (at Game 11 site), TBD**
Game 13 - If Necessary, TBD**
** Games 12 and 13 may not start earlier than the published start time, but may start later if the previous game runs long.
- Release courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference
