The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team will open play in the 2018 American Southwest Conference Softball Championship Tournament Thursday on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler. The Cru finished the regular season at 28-12 with a 21-8 mark in conference play. UMHB will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed. The event runs Thursday, May 3rd – Saturday, May 5th with the championship set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
No. 6 seed Louisiana College will open the tournament in a 10 a.m. contest against No. 7 seed Sul Ross State on Thursday with the winner facing No. 4 seed Concordia Texas at 4 p.m. No. 5 seed UT Dallas will play No. 8 seed Ozarks with the winner advancing to face UMHB at 7 p.m. All four matches played on Thursday are single-elimination. Friday’s format will open double-elimination play with Thursday’s winners facing No. 2 seed East Texas Baptist and No. 1 seed UT Tyler. Semifinal contests are scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Cru is making its 19th appearance in the tournament and is currently tied with East Texas Baptist as the conference schools with the most appearances in the event. The Cru is 19-36 overall in the tournament and has advanced to the championship game three times. UMHB is 10-7 against tournament opponents this season. The 2018 tournament also features two nationally-ranked opponents in No. 3 UT Tyler and No. 14 East Texas Baptist.
Live coverage of the 2018 ASC Softball Championship Tournament is available at cruathletics.com. This is the 18th year of the ASC Championship Tournament and first year back to an eight-team tournament. Admission to the tournament is $5 for adults and $3 for students. UT Tyler operates under the ASC's No Pet Policy and will enforce that rule for leashed and unleashed pets within the confines of the facility. The winner of the tournament will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Championships.
