The 2021 Southland Conference tournament was held at North Oak Park in Hammond, Louisiana, from May 11 through 14, 2021.[2] The tournament winner, McNeese, earned the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament. All games were broadcast on ESPN+.[3][4]
| Teams | 7 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination tournament |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | McNeese (7th title) |
| Winning coach | James Landreneau (3rd title) |
| MVP | Whitney Tate (McNeese) |
| Television | ESPN+ |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin † | 25 | – | 2 | .926 | 35 | – | 12 | .745 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Arkansas | 21 | – | 6 | .778 | 37 | – | 19 | .661 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McNeese State ‡y | 18 | – | 9 | .667 | 35 | – | 26 | .574 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State | 16 | – | 11 | .593 | 24 | – | 22 | .522 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southeastern Louisiana | 14 | – | 10 | .583 | 28 | – | 23 | .549 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston Baptist | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | 22 | – | 17 | .564 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston State | 14 | – | 13 | .519 | 19 | – | 31 | .380 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 10 | – | 17 | .370 | 14 | – | 33 | .298 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incarnate Word | 9 | – | 18 | .333 | 16 | – | 27 | .372 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 8 | – | 16 | .333 | 18 | – | 30 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nicholls | 5 | – | 22 | .185 | 12 | – | 28 | .300 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lamar | 4 | – | 23 | .148 | 8 | – | 43 | .157 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 22, 2021[1] Rankings from NFCA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format edit
The tournament was a 7 team double elimination format. The top seeded team, McNeese, received a bye in first round competition.
Seeds edit
Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. All seven teams in the conference qualified for the tournament. Tie–breaker procedures were not required.
| Seed | School | Conference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 25–2 |
| 2 | Central Arkansas | 21–6 |
| 3 | McNeese | 18–9 |
| 4 | Northwestern State | 16–11 |
| 5 | Southeastern Louisiana | 14–10 |
| 6 | Houston Baptist | 15–12 |
| 7 | Sam Houston | 14–13 |
| 8 | Abilene Christian | 10–17 |
- Incarnate Word, Nicholls, Lamar, and Texas A&M–Corpus Christi failed to qualify as members in the tournament field. New Orleans does not sponsor a softball team.
Source:[5]
Tournament edit
Source:[2]
| Round | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Notes | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First day – Tuesday, May 12, 2021 | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 pm | No. 6 Houston Baptist vs. No. 7 Sam Houston State | 3–4 | 172 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 7:30 pm | No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 8 Abilene Christian | 4–3 | 222 | |||
| Second day – Thursday, May 13, 2021 | |||||||
| 2 | |||||||
| 3 | 11:00 am | No. 3 McNeese State vs. No. 7 Sam Houston State | 3–1 | 277 | ESPN+ | ||
| 4 | 1:30 pm | No. 4 Northwestern State vs No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana | 7–4 | 343 | |||
| 5 | 4:00 pm | No. 2 Central Arkansas vs. No. 3 McNeese State | 5–6 | 335 | |||
| 6 | 7:20 pm | No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 4 Northwestern State | 4–1 | 335 | |||
| Third day – Friday, May 14, 2021 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 7 | 11:00 am | No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 2 Central Arkansas | 1–2 | 275 | Elimination game (Southeastern Louisiana) | ESPN+ | |
| 8 | 1:30 pm | No. 7 Sam Houston State vs. No. 4 Northwestern State | 0–85 | 242 | Elimination game (Sam Houston State) | ||
| 9 | 4:00 pm | No. 3 McNeese vs. No. 1 Stephen F. Austin | 4–1 | 304 | |||
| 10 | 6:30 pm | No. 2 Central Arkansas vs. No. 4 Northwestern State | 5–2 | 339 | Elimination Game (Northwestern State) | ||
| Championship – Saturday, May 15, 2021 | |||||||
| 4 | |||||||
| 11 | 11:00 pm | No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 2 Central Arkansas | 4–5 | 307 | Elimination Game (Stephen F. Austin) | ESPN+ | |
| 12 | 1:50 pm | No. 2 Central Arkansas vs. No. 1 McNeese | 0–1 | 345 | McNeese tournament champion | ||
| *Game times in CDT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||||
Awards and honors edit
Tournament MVP: Whitney Tate, McNeese
All-Tournament Teams: Source:[3]
- Whitney Tate, McNeese - MVP
- Haylee Brinlee, McNeese
- Jenna Edwards, McNeese
- Kaylee Lopez, McNeese
- Cori McCrary, McNeese
- Toni Perrin, McNeese
- Kayla Beaver, Central Arkansas
- Mary Kate Brown, Central Arkansas
- Cylla Hill, Central Arkansas
- Kaylyn Shepherd, Central Arkansas
- Kristen Whitehouse, Central Arkansas
- Mackenzie Bennett, Stephen F. Austin
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Southland Softball Standings". www.southland.org. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ^ a b "2021 Southland Softball Tournament". Southland Conference. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ a b Pam LaFosse (May 15, 2021). "McNeese vanquishes Southeastern to claim Southland Softball Tournament Championship". 2024 Crescent City Sports Enterprises LLC. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Erik Hall (May 11, 2021). "2021 Southland Conference Softball Tournament bracket, schedule, game times". 2024 www.shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ "2021 Southland Softball Tournament Field Finalized". Southland Conference. May 8, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2024.