NEW ORLEANS – After the conclusion of the 2021 regular season on Saturday evening, the Sun Belt Conference announced the official bracket for the softball championship scheduled for May 11-15 at the Troy Softball Complex in Troy, Alabama.

Regular season champions and 14th-ranked Louisiana (40-10, 21-3 SBC) claimed the top seed and will face the winner of  Game 1 between No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina (21-23, 9-15) and No. 9 seed ULM (16-30, 6-15) on Wednesday, May 12 at 10 a.m. CT.

All 10 softball teams will participate in this year’s tournament vying for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. With four Sun Belt teams ranked in the top-50 in the RPI - No. 21 Louisiana, No. 29 Texas State, No. 38 Troy and No. 49 South Alabama - the league could see multiple postseason qualifiers. 

The conference’s bottom-four seeds face off in a single-elimination round on Tuesday, May 11. The Chanticleers and Warhawks will kick off competition at 10 a.m., before No. 7 seed Georgia Southern (17-25, 9-14) and No. 10 seed Georgia State (15-28, 3-18) conclude the day with a 1 p.m. matchup.

Wednesday’s double elimination rounds will see No. 4 seed South Alabama (26-17, 13-9) versus No. 5 seed App State (26-17, 8-12) at 12:30 p.m., No. 3 seed Troy (34-13, 17-6) and No. 6 seed UT Arlington  (16-32, 9-14) at 3 p.m., and No. 2 seed Texas State (36-10, 17-6) versus the winner of the Eagles-Panthers single-elimination game.

Four games will be played on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The winner of the morning game on Saturday, will play in the title game later that afternoon.

2019 Sun Belt Championship Recap
Held in San Marco, Texas at the Bobcat Softball Stadium, the 2019 Sun Belt Softball Championship concluded with top-seeded Louisiana winning its league-record 15th tournament title with a 1-0 victory over No. 6 Coastal Carolina. Coastal Carolina defeated No. 7 Georgia Southern, No. 3 UTA, No. 2 Troy and No. 8 ULM in its run to the title game.

In the circle, Ragin’ Cajuns pitcher Summer Ellyson, then a junior, threw another gem to put a stamp on her championship performance and earn Community Coffee Most Outstanding Player honors. Ellyson only allowed two hits and struck out seven in her seven innings of work. The win was her 37th of the season, which paced the nation. For the tournament, Ellyson went 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 21 strikeouts.

The Ragin’ Cajuns remain the reigning conference tournament champions. The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Broadcast/TV Info
All 16 games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and available online and the ESPN app, with Matt Stewart and Alex Powers calling all the action. Live statistics are available on SunBeltSports.org.

Social Media Coverage
Updates will be posted on Twitter @SunBelt. Fans and participants are encouraged to use the #SunBeltSB hashtag on social media.

Ticket Information
Tickets are on sale now with single-day pass and full-tournament pass options available. Prices range from $5 to $15 for youth tickets (ages 3-12) and $10 to $30 for adults. For more information on ticketing and seating options, contact the Troy Ticket Office by calling 877-878-WINS (9467).

Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, May 11
Game 1 – No. 8 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 9 ULM (ESPN+), 10 a.m.
Game 2 – No. 7 Georgia Southern vs. No. 10 Georgia State (ESPN+), 1 p.m.
 
Wednesday, May 12                                                          
Game 3 –Winner Game 1 vs. No. 1 Louisiana (ESPN+), 10 a.m.
Game 4 – No. 4 South Alabama vs. No. 5 App State (ESPN+), 12:30 p.m.
Game 5 – No. 3 Troy vs. No. 6 UT Arlington (ESPN+), 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 2 Winner vs. No. 2 Texas State (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m.
                                                      
Thursday, May 13
Game 7 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (ESPN+), 10 a.m.
Game 8 – Winner Game 5  vs. Winner Game 6 (ESPN+), 12:30 p.m.
Game 9 – Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 5 (ESPN+), 3 p.m.
Game 10 – Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6  (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m.
                                            
Friday, May 14
Game 11 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (ESPN+), 10 a.m.
Game 12 – Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 (ESPN+), 12:30 p.m.
Game 13 – Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 10 (ESPN+), 3 p.m.
Game 14 – Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13 (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 15
Game 15 – Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 14 (ESPN+), 11 a.m.
Championship Game – Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 15 (ESPN+), 2:30 p.m.

All times are Central and subject to change.