AAC Championship Field Set: RU is No. 3 Seed

AAC Championship Field Set: RU is No. 3 Seed
April 22, 2021

By AAC Sports Information

Photo Courtesy of Karl Moore, Mooreshots Photos

 ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) released the 2021 AAC Softball Tournament bracket, and Milligan is the No. 1 seed.

The tournament begins Monday, April 26, and runs through Friday, April 30. The five-day event is being held at the Brickyard Ball Fields in Kingsport, Tenn.

Fans are allowed 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.

Milligan won the regular season with a 22-4 conference record. Truett McConnell finished as the runner-up at 21-5 in league play. This year, the AAC has three automatic berths to the NAIA National Championship Tournament, and Milligan and Truett McConnell each receive one as the regular-season champion and runner-up.

The final automatic berth will be awarded to the tournament champion.

This year, 10 teams advance to the tournament. The tournament begins with the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds and the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds facing off in single-elimination contests with the winners advancing to the final eight and the double-elimination portion of the tournament.

Here are the seeds for the tournament:

  1. Milligan (29-5, 22-4 AAC)
  2. Truett McConnell (28-12, 21-5 AAC)
  3. Reinhardt (37-11, 20-6 AAC)
  4. Point (26-10, 18-8 AAC)
  5. Tennessee Wesleyan (21-13, 17-9 AAC)
  6. Bryan (18-14, 15-11 AAC)*
  7. Union (20-20, 15-11 AAC)*
  8. Brenau (18-14, 15-11 AAC)*
  9. Bluefield (16-18, 10-16 AAC)
  10. Columbia International (14-29, 8-18 AAC)

*-Bryan, Union, and Brenau all tied for the sixth seed with identical 15-11 conference records. The tie-breaker then went to the fewest runs allowed. Bryan and Brenau were tied at 9-9, but Bryan holds the tie-breaker over Union (12-13) and Union owns the tie-breaker over Brenau (10-13). Therefore, Bryan is the No. 6 seed with Union at No. 7 and Brenau at No. 8.

Here's the complete tournament schedule:

Tournament Schedule
Monday, April 26 - Single-Elimination Games
Game 1 - No. 8 Brenau (18-14) vs. No. 9 Bluefield (16-18), 11 am
Game 2 - No. 7 Union (20-20) vs. No. 10 Columbia International (14-29), 1 pm

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. Game 1 Winner, 1 pm
Game 5 - No. 2 Truett McConnell (28-12) vs. Game 2 Winner, 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, 6 pm

Thursday, April 29
Game 11 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser, 11 am
Game 12 - Game 8 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)

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For more information on Reinhardt Softball, please click here.