All tournament action prior to Saturday's championship game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Brett Williams and Tyler Eaton on the call.
WKU enters post-season play with a 27-12 record and 10-6 mark in C-USA games. The Hilltoppers enter tournament action winning nine of their last 10 games.
Fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee owns a 26-21 overall record and went 11-8 in league play while eighth-seeded UTSA went 14-30 throughout the regular season and posted an 8-12 mark in conference games. The Blue Raiders and Roadrunners will meet in the day's first game at noon CT.
A loss for any team on Wednesday concludes their season while a win advances the squad into the double-elimination portion of the C-USA Tournament bracket.
GAME 40
WKU (27-12; 10-6 C-USA) vs. Winner of Middle Tennessee/UTSA
Wednesday, May 12 – 5 p.m. CT
Livestats | ESPN+ Stream
WKU Softball Complex | Bowling Green, Ky.
PARKING
All fans can park in the Creason lot, which sits beyond right and center field of the WKU Softball Complex. Cars will not be able to park in Parking Structure 3.
TICKETS
Fans can purchase single-game tickets to the Conference USA Softball Tournament hosted by WKU at two on-site locations. The first gate is behind the softball press box and concessions stand while the second location is at the entrance to Parking Structure 3. All tickets are general admission and are the same for inside the complex and structure.
No all-session or all-tournament tickets will be available this year so fans will need to purchase a $10 ticket for each game they wish to attend. The seating area will be cleared and sanitized between each game. Tickets will not be available to purchase before the tournament begins.
TOP STORYLINES
- In the Hilltoppers' seven seasons as Conference USA members, the team has made five appearances in the six possible C-USA Tournaments including this year's event. WKU earned the No. 1 seed during the 2015 campaign when the Red and White went on to win the whole thing. In both 2017 and 2018, head coach Amy Tudor's unit was the last squad in as the No. 8 seed. In 2019, WKU was the third seed but would fall to sixth-seeded Middle Tennessee.
- The Tops have unfortunately had 16 games canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 contact tracing by an opponent or inclement weather across the 2021 campaign.
- By earning the No. 4 seed in the 2021 Conference USA Tournament, WKU Softball snapped a seven-year drought of the tournament host not making the event. Florida Atlantic was the last team to make and host the event in 2014. FIU missed the 2015 tournament, North Texas (2016), Southern Miss (2017), Charlotte (2018) and UAB (2019) are the recent hosts.
- WKU's April 1-3 series at Marshall was postponed due to a positive COVID-19 case in the Hilltoppers' Tier 1 testing group and subsequent contract tracing. A make-up date was unable to be determined.
- WKU received votes in the NCAA Top 25 Poll for four weeks following its upset of No. 7 Kentucky.
- This season, Kelsey Aikey added both her 500th career strikeout and 17th career save. She is just the fourth Hilltopper to reach the 500-strikeout milestone. After six strikeouts against Belmont, seven more against Charlotte and one against Florida Atlantic, she now stands at 554 strikeouts, just 9 away from breaking the all-time record for most career strikeouts in WKU history, currently held by Emily Rousseau (2012-14). Aikey has owned the program's save record since her junior season and ranks second among all active NCAA Division I pitchers with 17 saves.
- WKU Softball redshirt-senior Paige Carter earned a spot on the 2021 Conference USA All-Academic Team the league office announced Monday. Carter completed her Master's degree from WKU in Recreation Sport Administration this past semester with a 4.0 GPA. She also earned her Bachelor's degree on The Hill in Sport Management.
- Paige Carter also set a new WKU single-season record for doubles after recording her 17th of the season in the series against Florida Atlantic.
- Former Hilltopper Softball player Larissa Franklin is a member of the Canadian National Team faced off against her former squad in the exhibition game earlier this season. Franklin is one of four current or former members of WKU Softball to be featured on the WKU Athletics' Beyond the Hill podcast.
- In early February, redshirt-junior catcher Kendall Smith was named 1-of-30 Senior CLASS Award Candidates. She joins fellow Hilltopper Aikey as two of the three selections in program history.
- WKU Softball was predicted to win the Conference USA East Division by league coaches, receiving eight first place votes. Individually, pitcher Aikey and Shelby Nunn, along with Smith were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook.
