KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Central Oklahoma ended up as the regular season runner-up and will be the No. 2 seed for the MIAA Softball Championship that runs May 6-9 in Emporia, Kansas.
The No. 18-ranked Bronchos closed the regular season Friday with a doubleheader sweep of Newman to finish 18-6 in the conference and are now 41-12 on the season. UCO will play in the final quarterfinal game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against either Northeastern State or Northwest Missouri.
The 10-team, single-elimination tournament opens Wednesday at the Trusler Sports Complex with No. 8 Washburn (35-18) facing No. 9 Missouri Western (32-17) at 3 p.m. before the seventh-seeded RiverHawks (28-22) and No. 10 Bearcats (31-20) play at 5:30.
Four quarterfinal games are on tap Thursday, starting with regular season champion and top-seeded Missouri Southern (45-7) meeting the WU-MWSU winner at 11 a.m. No. 4 Emporia State (28-17) takes on fifth-seeded Central Missouri (33-17) at 1:30 and No. 3 Pittsburg State (45-8) plays sixth-seeded Rogers State (34-18) at 4 p.m. before the Bronchos finish the day.
Friday's semifinals are at noon and 2:30 p.m., with the championship game at 12 p.m. Saturday.
The tournament champion earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Softball Championship. That 64-team field – with eight teams in eight regions around the country – will be announced May 11.
UCO captured its fourth MIAA Softball Championship title last year in Hays, Kansas, defeating Rogers State 8-0 in the finals. The Bronchos also won the tournament in 2017, '19 and '23.
