CROWN POINT, Ind. — Olivet Nazarene University defended its regular season crown and now the Tigers will look to do the same as the tournament champion when the 2021 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament begins play at the Crown Point SportsPlex on Thursday morning.
The Tigers, ranked No 12 in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll, enter the 12-team, double-elimination tournament as the top-seeded team after going 19-1 in league play and 28-4 overall during the regular season.
Right on Olivet Nazarene’s heels is No. 14-ranked and No. 2 seed Saint Xavier University. The Cougars suffered only two defeats during the regular season opposite 29 wins with the only setbacks coming against No. 4 seed St. Ambrose University in a 9-6 contest on April 27 and Olivet Nazarene in a 3-0 shutout on April 21. In both doubleheaders, SXU earned 9-0 and 7-2 victories, respectively, in the other half of the twinbills.
By gaining the top two seeds, both Olivet Nazarene and Saint Xavier gain opening-round byes in the tournament as does No. 3 seed Roosevelt University (35-13) and No. 4 St. Ambrose (18-10). The eight other entrants will open the tournament with Thursday morning contests on two separate fields.
The eye-opener games (9 am) will match No. 8 seed Cardinal Stitch University (17-15) vs. No. 9 Trinity International University (15-20) and No. 7 seed Indiana University South Bend (17-21) squaring off against No. 10 Judson University (9-28).
At 11 am, No. 5 seed University of St. Francis (21-13) and No. 12 seed Lincoln College (3-31) go head-to-head, while No. 6 seed and host Calumet College of St. Joseph (17-31) battles No. 11 Trinity Christian College (9-21).
A total of 12 games will be played on Thursday with four teams being eliminated by the end of the night. Another eight games are on the docket for Friday beginning at 10 am with semifinal and title games scheduled for Saturday starting at noon.
Along with Olivet Nazarene as the regular-season champion, the winner of the tournament advances to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, which will be held May 13-15 at one of eight possible sites. Should the Tigers also gain the conference tournament crown, the second-place tournament finisher would earn the conference’s second automatic bid to the Opening Round.
For all tournament information, go to Tourney Info.
The complete schedule follows:
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Game #1: No. 8 seed Cardinal Stritch (17-15) vs. No. 9 seed Trinity Int. (15-20) — 9 am
Game #2: No. 7 seed Indiana South Bend (17-21) vs. No. 10 seed Judson (9-28) — 9 am
Game #3: No. 5 seed St. Francis (21-13) vs. No. 12 seed Lincoln (3-31) — 11 am
Game #4: No. 8 seed Calumet St. Joseph (17-31) vs. No. 11 seed Trinity Chr. (9-21) — 11 am
Game #5: No. 1 seed Olivet Nazarene (28-4) vs. Winner-Game #1 — 1 pm
Game #6: No. 2 seed Saint Xavier (29-2) vs. Winner-Game #2 — 1 pm
Game #7: No. 4 seed St. Ambrose (18-10) vs. Winner-Game #3 — 3 pm
Game #8: No. 3 seed Roosevelt (35-13) vs. Winner-Game #4 — 3 pm
Game #9: Loser-Game #2 vs. Loser-Game #5 — 5 pm
Game #10: Loser-Game #1 vs. Loser-Game #6 — 5 pm
Game #11: Loser-Game #4 vs. Loser-Game #7 — 7 pm
Game #12: Loser-Game #3 vs. Loser-Game #8 — 7 pm
Friday, May 7, 2021
Game #13: Winner-Game #9 vs. Winner-Game #11 — 10 am
Game #14: Winner-Game #10 vs. Winner-Game #12 — 10 am
Game #15: Winner-Game #5 vs. Winner-Game #7 — 12 pm
Game #16: Winner-Game #6 vs. Winner-Game #8 — 12 pm
Game #17: Loser-Game #16 vs. Winner-Game #13 — 2 pm
Game #18: Loser-Game #15 vs. Winner-Game #14 — 2 pm
Game #19: Winner-Game #15 vs. Winner-Game #16 — 4 pm
Game #20: Winner-Game #17 vs. Winner-Game #18 — 6 am
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Game #21: Winner-Game #20 vs. Loser-Game #19 — 12 pm
Game #22: Winner-Game #19 vs. Winner-Game #21 — 2 pm (Championship)
Game #23: Winner-Game #23 vs. Loser-Game #23 — 4 pm (If necessary)
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