Salve Regina wins regular-season title, earns top seed in CCC softball tournament

INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET 

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Salve Regina University will look to defend its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Softball title as the Seahawks enter the 2017 CCC Softball Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Salve finished with a 16-2 CCC (22-11 overall) record, which clinched them the CCC Regular-Season Championship.

Last season, the Seahawks made a run through the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed to claim their first title since 1999.

Western New England University, last year's top seed, will look for better results this year after they were ousted from the tournament early on their home field. The Golden Bears went 13-5 in conference (23-9 Overall) this year to secure the No. 2 seed.

Meanwhile, 2016 CCC Softball Tournament runner-up, Roger Williams University, will look to make another trip to the league's final contest as the No. 3 seed. The Hawks finished the year with a 12-6 CCC (22-16 Overall) record. The final team advancing directly to the double-elimination phase of the tournament is Endicott College, which clinched the No. 4 seed with an 11-7 CCC (20-14 Overall) record.

The final four tournament entrants will have to win their way into the double-elimination phase tomorrow, April 28, in the play-in phase. No. 5 seed University of New England will host No. 8 seed Gordon College in one play-in game. The Nor'easters completed a 10-8 CCC (15-13 Overall) season to earn the fifth seed, while Gordon finished 7-11 in conference (14-20 Overall) to earn the eighth seed. No. 6 seed Nichols College, which went 8-10 in the CCC (16-15 Overall), will host No. 7 seed Curry College, another 7-11 conference (15-21 Overall) finisher, in the other play-in. Both games are scheduled for 3 p.m.

Despite both Curry and Gordon having 7-11 conference records, the Colonels were awarded the higher seed due to the league's tiebreaking procedures. The two teams split their regular season doubleheader, offering no relief in the head-to-head phase. The teams were then compared based on their results against other conference teams in rank order. Neither team bested top-seed Salve Regina, but Curry had a win over No. 2 seed Western New England to give it the edge.

Following tomorrow's play-in phase, the tournament will enter a double-elimination format. Four games will be played on Saturday, April 29, with Salve Regina and WNE each hosting two games. The rest of the tournament will be at Salve Regina the following weekend. Four games will be played on Friday, May 5 followed by at least two games, including the championship game, on Saturday, May 6.

The winner of the 2017 CCC Softball Tournament will be named the CCC Tournament Champion and will earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2017 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Tournament.

Tournament Schedule

PLAY-IN PHASE

Friday, April 28 (hosted by higher seeds)

Game 1 - #8 Gordon def. #5 University of New England, 2-0
Game 2 - #7 Curry def. #6 Nichols, 2-0 in eight innings

DOUBLE-ELIMINATION PHASE

Saturday, April 29 (at top two seeds)

Game 3 - #4 Endicott def. #8 Gordon, 8-3 (at Salve Regina)
Game 4 - #3 Roger Williams def. #7 Curry, 10-1 in five innings (at Western New England)
Game 5 - #1 Salve Regina def. #4 Endicott, 1-0
Game 6 - #2 Western New England def. #3 Roger Williams, 9-3

Friday, May 5 (at Salve Regina)

Game 7 - #8 Gordon v. #3 Roger Williams, 10 a.m.
Game 8 - #4 Endicott v. #7 Curry, 12 p.m.
Game 9 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 4 p.m.
Game 10 - #1 Salve Regina v. #2 Western New England, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 6 (at Salve Regina)

Game 11 - Game 10 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser, 11 a.m.
Game 12 - Game 11 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 13 - Game 12 Opponents (if necessary), 3 p.m.

Sat., April 29 • Salve Regina softball will play one game, 30 minutes after the conclusion of another game that begins at 1 p.m.
Fri., May 5 • Salve Regina softball hosts a six-team event that goes all day (starts at 10 a.m.; last game begins at 4 p.m.); order of play determined by previous Saturday outcomes.
Sat., May 6 • Salve Regina softball hosts a three-team championship round that begins at 11 a.m. with an elimination game; the winner advances to the final phase and faces an unbeaten team to be completed on this day.

For all games at Salve Regina's Toppa Field, the Seahawks will provide live stats using the Presto Stats system online. Salve Regina will be live streaming with audio play-by-play on its Ustream channel ALL games at Toppa Field, thanks to the new tournament format that allows use of a single field.

Live video for softball link - http://bit.ly/1Quj97C
Toppa Field directions link - http://bit.ly/XdbZZp