Central Michigan University Athletics
MAC Softball Tournament Field Set
5/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 7, 2006
MAC Tournament Bracket
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MIDLAND, Mich. - The eight-team field for the 2006 Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament is officially set, the league office announced Sunday (May 7) afternoon at the conclusion of the conference regular season. The double-elimination tournament will be held at Midland's Currie Stadium (May 10-13) for the first time in league history.
In the second year of the expanded eight-team field, five of last year's teams qualified for the event. The top eight seeds are as follows: No. 1 Western Michigan (18-4); second-seeded Kent State (16-5); No. 3 Bowling Green (16-6); fourth-seeded Central Michigan (13-7); No. 5 Eastern Michigan (14-8); sixth-seeded Akron (13-9); No. 7 Northern Illinois (10-12), and eighth-seeded Ohio (7-15).
Deadlocked with identical MAC records heading into Sunday, both the RedHawks and Bobcats were hoping to lock up the tournament's final seed. Both teams lost their season-ending decisions, but Ohio was awarded the eighth seed due to the league's second tiebreaker rule. The Bobcats had a better winning percentage versus ranked conference teams, having split with Kent State. Miami was swept by the Golden Flashes Friday in Kent.
Currie Stadium, which has played host to the United States Olympic Women's Softball team, was the site of last week's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament.
First-round play begins Wednesday (May 10) at 11 a.m. The championship game is slated for Saturday (May 13) at 3 p.m. The tournament champion will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid into the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
