Hilltoppers Open C-USA Championship Wednesday in Charlotte

WKU Notes | C-USA Bracket

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – One of the final eight teams competing in Conference USA for the second-straight year, eighth-seeded WKU Softball will open play at the C-USA Championship on Wednesday with an 11 a.m. CT tilt against No. 5 seed Marshall. All games from the Sue M. Daughtridge Stadium until the championship contest will be streamed on beIN Connect and available with a cable subscription login.

GAME INFORMATION
Wed., May 9 – 11 a.m. CT – No. 8 WKU vs. No. 5 Marshall | Livestats | Watch

Marshall and WKU met for their regular season series less than three weeks ago in Bowling Green. The Hilltoppers claimed the series 2-1 with a 4-1 win in the Sunday rubber match. Overall, the Thundering Herd finished 25-28-1 on the year with a 13-9-1 reading in league games. WKU posted a 27-25 year with a 10-13 mark in C-USA contests.

In the series on The Hill earlier this season, Hilltopper senior Brittany Vaughn batted .538 with a 7-for-13 weekend including a double and pair of home runs in addition to seven RBI. As a team, WKU worked at a collective .356 batting average while the Red and White's pitching staff limited the visitors to a .202 average.

At the C-USA Championship in Hattiesburg, Miss., last season, the Hilltoppers embraced the underdog role. After being picked preseason 10th in the 2017 C-USA Coaches Poll, WKU Softball defied expectations and earned the eighth seed
in the 2017 league tournament. The Hilltoppers didn't stop there; after two wins to make it into double elimination, the Red and White became the first 8-seed to be one of the final four teams standing.

First things first, [8] WKU upset [5] UAB in a 12-7 12-inning marathon. The Hilltoppers turned around two hours later and upset [4] Florida Atlantic 6-5 in 9 innings. 21 innings played in one day is the second-most in program history and most in just two games in one day. After a 2-0 loss to [1] Marshall in regulation, WKU closed the tournament with a 1-0 loss to [3] LA Tech in 10 innings. 38 innings played by one team in the C-USA Tournament is the second-most by a team all-time. DePaul owns the record with 43 innings across six games.

With a win, WKU would advance to play No. 4 seed Louisiana Tech Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT. The Lady Techsters finished 31-21 on the regular season with a 15-9 reading in C-USA matchups.

How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.

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Players Mentioned

Brittany Vaughn