Top Seeds Advance in First Round of Softball Tournament
KINGSPORT, Tenn. - The top seeds live to see another day as the 2021 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) got underway on Monday.
Play began with No. 8 seed Brenau defeated No. 9 seed Bluefield 4-0. No. 7 seed Union advanced to the next round with a 5-1 win over No. 10 Columbia International.
The tournament is being held at the Brickyard Ball Fields in Kingsport, Tenn.
The first round was single-elimination. However, Brenau and Union move on to the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
GAME 1 - BRENAU 4, BLUEFIELD 0
The game was scoreless through the first two innings before Abigail Brown doubled in a run to put Brenau up 1-0 after three innings. The following frame saw Brenau tack on three more runs.
Brenau pitcher Cameron Dillard took care of the rest. She went the distance, allowing no runs on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
At the plate, Brown led the way in going 3-for-3 with an RBI and two doubles. Morgan Tyler went 1-for-2 and scored twice.
GAME 2 - UNION, COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL 1
Abby Wall struck out nine in picking up a complete-game win, and Brooke Brown went 3-for-3 as Union scored the 5-1 victory.
Union scored a run in each the third, fourth, and fifth innings before pushing two across in the sixth for a 5-0 lead. Columbia International scratched out a run in the seventh, but it was too little, too late as Union grabbed the four-run win.
Here is the updated tournament schedule:
Tournament Schedule
Monday, April 26 - Single-Elimination Games
Game 1 - No. 8 Brenau (19-14) vs. No. 9 Bluefield (16-19), 4-0 (Box)
Game 2 - No. 7 Union (21-20) vs. No. 10 Columbia International (14-30), 5-1 (Box)
Tuesday, April 27 - Double-Elimination Through the Rest of the Tournament
Game 3 - No. 4 Point (26-10) vs. No. 5 Tennessee Wesleyan (21-13), 11 am
Game 4 - No. 1 Milligan (29-5) vs. No. 8 Brenau (19-14), 1 pm
Game 5 - No. 2 Truett McConnell (28-12) vs. No. 7 Union (21-20), 3 pm
Game 6 - No. 3 Reinhardt (37-11) vs. No. 6 Bryan (18-14), 5 pm
Wednesday, April 28
Game 7 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 11 am
Game 8 - Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser, 1 pm
Game 9 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 3 pm
Game 10 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 5 pm
Thursday, April 29
Game 11 - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser, 11 am
Game 12 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 10 Loser, 1 pm
Game 13 - Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 3 pm
Game 14 - Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner, 5 pm
Friday, April 30
Game 15 - Game 13 Loser vs. Game 14 Winner, 11 am
Game 16 - Championship Game 1 - Game 13 Winner vs. Game 15 Winner, 1 pm
Game 17 - Championship Game 2 - Game 16 Winner vs. Game 16 Loser, 3 pm (if necessary)
Fans are allowed permitted to attend. Masks are not required for fans, but fans must socially distance themselves from others not in their family. All tickets will be sold online and can be purchased by clicking here.
If unable to attend in person, all games will be streamed live online. To watch, click here.
Full tournament stats and live stats can be found by clicking here.