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As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, a win on Thursday will set the Tops up for game seven and will face the winner of the [1] Liberty and [4] NM State game on Friday at 1 p.m. CT. Being the tournament is a double-elimination set-up, a loss Thursday would put the Tops into game eight at 3:30 p.m. Friday.Â
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Liberty earned the top seed in the six-team postseason event after winning the league's regular season title. WKU earned the second seed, their highest since 2015. LA Tech placed third, host NM State is fourth, while Jax State and UTEP round out the field.
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The Hilltoppers enter the weekend with an overall record of 31-19-1, which included a 16-8Â mark in CUSA action. WKU claimed series wins over NM State (2-1) and UTEP (2-1), while picking up sweeps over FIU (3-0), Sam Houston (3-0), and Middle Tennessee (3-0). The Hilltoppers avoided any road sweeps this season but fell in the three-game series to LA Tech, Liberty, and Jax State.
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In 2024, WKU produced Conference USA's leader in batting average (TJ Webster), slugging and home runs (Taylor Sanders), and strikeouts (Katie Gardner), as they led the league all season in team batting average and fielding. In postseason awards, the Tops saw a record eight different Hilltoppers named to All-CUSA teams, including Webster as the league's Defensive Player of the Year and Gardner as CUSA Pitcher of the Year.
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In the seven Conference USA Tournaments that WKU Softball has competed in, the Hilltoppers have won two – 2021 and the program's first event during the 2015 campaign. Overall, the Red and White own a 14-9 record in CUSA Tournament games.
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In 2021, WKU became the first CUSA Tournament host to make the event field since Florida Atlantic in 2014. WKU became the first host to win the tournament since East Carolina in 2011.
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CUSA TOURNAMENT GAME 5
WKU vs. [3]LA Tech/[6] UTEP
Watch:Â ESPN+Â |Â Livestats
Thursday, May 9, 2024 | 3:30 p.m. CT
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FULL SCHEDULEÂ
Wednesday, May 8 – 1 p.m. CT     Game 1: (4) NM State vs. (5) Jax Stat (ESPN+)
Wednesday, May 8 – 3:30 p.m. CT    Game 2: (3) LA Tech vs. (6) UTEP (ESPN+)
Wednesday, May 8 – 6 p.m. CT         Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (ESPN+).
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Thursday, May 9 – 1 pm. CT        Game 4: (1) Liberty vs. Winner Game 1 (ESPN+)
Thursday, May 9 – 3:30 p.m. CT     Game 5: (2) WKU vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN+)
Thursday, May 9 - 6 p.m. CT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (ESPN+)
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Friday, May 10 – 1 p.m. CT         Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (ESPN+)
Friday, May 10 - 3:30 pm CT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Game 8: Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (ESPN+)
Friday, May 10 - 6 pm CT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (ESPN+)
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Saturday, May 11 – 1 p.m. CT      Game 10: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11 (CBS Sports Network)
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TOP STORYLINES
- The 2024 Conference USA Tournament marks the eighth league postseason event WKU has qualified for since joining CUSA prior to the 2014-15 season. WKU is 14-9Â in previous CUSA Tournaments.
- Coach Tudor is now 550-420-3 in her career. Since coming to the Hill ahead of the 2014 campaign, Tudor boasts an overall record of 333-214-2.
- On the stat sheet, TJ Webster continues to lead Conference USA with a .404 batting average and second with 59 hits.
- Katie Gardner is operating with a 2.57 ERA to lead the WKU pitching staff, producing 124 strikeouts at the plate. Rylan Smith is next in line with a 3.70 ERA with 101 strikeouts.
- Taylor Sanders most recently became the Hilltoppers' all-time RBIs leader with 181 and single-season home runs leader with 16 against UTEP last weekend. She is on track to the single-season RBI record with two more runs plated.
- The Hilltoppers collectively hold 377 hits, 212 RBIs, a .298 batting average with 35 home runs.
How to Follow Hilltopper Softball: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on X at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook/WKUSoftball.
