SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 2023 Summit League Softball Championship bracket was unveiled by League officials Saturday afternoon with South Dakota State earning the No. 1 seed following its third straight regular season league title.
The six-team tournament will be played May 10-13 at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium in Brookings, S.D. All games will be streamed live on thesummitleague.org/watch, televised on Midco Sports and available on the Midco Sports Plus app. Wednesday's two opening-round games are single-elimination contests. The remainder of the championship will be double elimination with the title game being held on Saturday.
The top two seeds receive byes into Thursday's semifinal round. Joining the Jackrabbits (35-15, 17-0) with a first-round bye is No. 2 seed Omaha (29-15, 15-5), who is on that seed line for the second straight season.
Rounding out the six-team field is No. 3 seed North Dakota State (29-19, 13-8 SL), No. 4 seed South Dakota (22-26, 11-9 SL), No. 5 seed North Dakota (12-37, 9-10 SL) and No. 6 seed Kansas City (9-42, 4-17). St. Thomas (18-35, 6-14 SL), who finished sixth in the League standings, is ineligible for the tournament as it continues its transition to the Division I level.
First pitch of the 2023 event will take place at 2 p.m. CT on Wednesday when No. 4 seed South Dakota takes on No. 5 seed North Dakota with the winner advancing to play top-seeded South Dakota State on Thursday. Third-seeded North Dakota State and sixth-seeded Kansas City will square off in Wednesday's second game at approximately 4:30 p.m. CT with the winner advancing to play No. 2 seed Omaha.
Thursday's semifinal games will begin at 11 a.m. CT with the two victorious schools advancing to Friday's winner's bracket contest. The two losing schools will play at approximately 4 p.m. CT Thursday in an elimination game. Friday's winner's bracket game will be played at 1 p.m. CT with the loser having to play at approximately 3:30 p.m. CT to earn a spot in Saturday's championship.
First pitch for Saturday's championship game will be at 1 p.m. CT with an if necessary game at approximately 3:30 p.m. CT. The Summit League champion will earn the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 10th
G1: (4) South Dakota vs. (5) North Dakota | 2 p.m. CT
G2: (3) North Dakota State vs. (6) Kansas City | 4:30 p.m. CT
Thursday, May 11th
G3: (1) South Dakota State vs. G1 Winner | 11 a.m. CT
G4: (2) Omaha vs. G2 Winner | 1:30 p.m. CT
G5: G3 Loser vs. G4 Loser | 4 p.m. CT
Friday, May 12th
G6: G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner | 1 p.m. CT
G7: G6 Loser vs. G5 Winner | 3:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 13th
G8: G6 Winner vs. G7 Winner | 1 p.m. CT
G9: If Necessary | 3:30 p.m. CT
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