Central Islip, N.Y. - The bracket for the upcoming East Coast Conference Softball Championship is set after the final day of the regular season. NYIT will host the tournament after clinching the ECC Regular Season Championship.
NYIT wrapped up their regular season schedule with seven straight conference victories (nine overall) to earn their first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship with a record of 35-11 (24-4 ECC). The Bears are also back in the tournament for the second straight season.
The second game of the tournament will feature NYIT against the No. 4 seed, Bridgeport. The Purple Knights are back in the tournament, ending a long ECC Championship appearance drought, by making the field for the first time since the 2008 season. Bridgeport earned the fourth and final seed by virtue of a 12-16 ECC record (19-28 overall). NYIT swept the season series against Bridgeport, moving their winning streak against the Purple Knights to 10 straight dating back to the 2014 season.
The first round matchups will begin with No. 3 Molloy and No. 2 LIU Post squaring off. Molloy, making their eight straight ECC Championship appearance, brings a 19-9 ECC (30-22 overall) record into tournament play. LIU Post makes it 23 straight seasons in the ECC Championship after finishing just behind NYIT with a 23-5 ECC (34-11-1 overall) record. The Pioneers have won all four matchups with Molloy during the regular season.
The double-elimination tournament will get under way on Thursday, April 28 and will run through Saturday, April 30. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.
Fans will be able to follow along live with all tournament games. Each game of the tournament will be broadcast live on the ECC's YouTube channel. Live stats will also be available for each game.
To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow us @ECCsports. Tournament recaps, highlights, interviews, and box scores will also be available on www.eccsports.org later in the week on the tournament specific web page.
2016 East Coast Conference Softball Championship
Thursday, April 28
Game One: No. 3 Molloy vs. No. 2 LIU Post - 1:00 p.m.
Game Two: No. 4 Bridgeport vs. No. 1 NYIT - 3:30 p.m.
Friday, April 29
Game Three: Game One winner vs. Game Two winner - 10:00 a.m.
Game Four: Game One loser vs. Game Two loser - 12:30 p.m.
Game Five: Game Three loser vs. Game Four winner - 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 30
Game Six: Game Three winner vs. Game Five winner - 12:00 p.m.
Game Seven: if necessary - 30 minutes after completion of Game Six
