For the first time, the league’s postseason championship will see its opening-round games take place in a best-of-three series format on higher-seed campus sites, which gets going this weekend live and exclusively streamed on FloCollege. 

The winners of each series will then go on to the Championship bracket (hosted by the highest-remaining seed) to be played May 1-3, where the all-important automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals will be up for grabs for the winner to take.

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The point of the change is simple: In a time of year in the softball season where chaos reigns, the SAC has foregone tradition in the hopes of adding some electric matchups with added pressure to the postseason slate. And if that all sounds exciting to you, join us at FloCollege for the ride ahead.

Here’s a look ahead at the SAC Softball Championship, with previews of all eight teams beginning their postseason journeys this weekend:

NOTE: All game times are listed in Eastern Time. 

No. 1 Wingate Softball

• Record: 33-19 overall (18-6 SAC)
• First game: vs. No. 8 Mars Hill, 3:30 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Wingate started the season 2-7, and the Bulldogs’ three-peat bid for SAC regular-season titles appeared to be in serious jeopardy for the months ahead. 

We all should’ve known better than to doubt Coach Jamie Stanclift and her crew. Clinching the No. 1 seed in the SAC Championship with about a week to spare, Wingate’s top-tier pitching staff that had the SAC’s lowest ERA (3.19) and most strikeouts (321) by far — on top of a defense that had the second-best fielding percentage (.962) in the SAC — in a conference full of elite lineups allowed it to coast through the danger by way of playing largely mistake-free softball, helped by a run through late March and early April of 11 wins from 13 games.

Impact player: Hali Scott, RHP/UTL

Call Scott the SAC’s Shohei Ohtani. The senior heads into the SAC Championship tied for the conference lead in RBIs with 56 as she’s slashed .362/.433/.705, all while having the league’s fifth-best ERA (3.03) with it as the Bulldogs’ do-it-all, two-way star can quite literally win games all by herself.

 Already posting career highs in just about every hitting metric, Scott’s demands on the mound have been toned down this season as she’s only thrown 74⅔ innings, well-below the career-most 121⅓ frames she tossed in 2024 as a junior, but no one in the conference can get the job done both at the plate and in the circle like Scott, and she should continue to be a crucial piece of the Bulldogs’ setup as the postseason gets underway.

No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne Softball

Record: 31-17 (16-8)

First game: vs. No. 7 Emory & Henry, 4 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Winners of five straight to close the regular season, the Bears weren’t quite able to swipe away the No. 1 seed from Wingate but should be more than happy with their No. 2 spot and the right to host their first-round playoff series this weekend. 

After winning the SAC Championship and making a remarkable run to the NCAA Division II national semifinals a season ago, Lenoir-Rhyne’s reputation as a chainsaw at the plate is unchanged; it is tied for the national lead in home runs with 84 and ranks fourth nationally in team batting average at .364 as of Wednesday evening, with power and production oozing throughout the lineup that can make any pitching staff shudder. 

Impact player: Madison Primm, UTL

An instant injection to the Bears’ offense when she arrived on the scene as a freshman in 2024 and belted 15 long balls, Primm has smashed any notion of a sophomore slump by putting up one of the best hitting seasons to date ever seen in the SAC. 

Primm flirted with the SAC’s regular-season triple crown, leading the league in homers (17) while batting .456 and crushing 54 RBIs, the latter two numbers of which ranked in the top four in the league and probably would’ve earned her the trifecta in many other D-II conferences. On an 11-game hitting streak going into the SAC Championship, Primm is a threat to hit the ball out any time she steps in the batter’s box and must be respected whenever she starts swinging for the fences.

No. 3 Lincoln Memorial Softball

Record: 31-14 (15-9)

First game: vs. No. 6 Anderson, 4 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: The Railsplitters swept Wingate to close the season, swept Tusculum (when it was ranked No. 17 in the country) by a combined 23-5 margin across two games, and swept the same Anderson team that they’re due to face this weekend. 

That’s all to say that if recent history repeats itself, it should be a pretty good SAC Championship for LMU. 

Though they ranked in the bottom half of the SAC this past regular season in runs scored, the Railsplitters were helped by the fact that they had the second-strongest pitching staff in the league (3.61 ERA) and would rarely give teams chances to do damage, throwing a SAC-low 86 walks. Having the league’s best ace (more on her in a second) definitely helps with that, but teams have to work for their runs when facing LMU.

Impact player: Halle Grace Patton, LHP

Unquestionably the SAC’s top arm this softball season, Patton transferred in from Trevecca Nazarene in the offseason and immediately shone in her new home, finishing as the conference’s queen in both ERA (2.09, winning the ERA title by .41 runs) and wins (21). Patton’s strikeout numbers are solid, punching out 107 batters thus far this year in 182⅓ innings pitched, but her ability to go deep into games and avoid major trouble, especially in a league stacked with hitters, is unmatched conference-wide. 

With the ability to get out of trouble and get runners out at any cost, Patton’s assets on the bump will serve her and the Railsplitters well as they try and make a return to the NCAA Tournament after a year away.

No. 4 Carson-Newman Softball

Record: 26-18 (13-11)

First game: vs. No. 5 Tusculum, 3:30 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: To have the third-best team batting average in the country (.368) and be seeded fourth in your conference tournament is indicative of some bad timing. 

The Eagles lost five of their last seven SAC games to ding their place in the conference standings, and they’ll get a tough opening-round draw against a Tusculum team that’s been nationally-ranked for much of the year to try and keep their season alive. But if Carson-Newman’s bats get hot, there’s arguably not a team in the conference that can stop it; the Eagles brought at least 10 runs across 13 different times this season as every qualified hitter on the team bats at least .321, with two batting over .400 including the third-best hitter in the league in the regular season, infielder Hayden Dye (.460).

Impact player: Macauley Bailey, C

With all due respect to the sensational season Dye is having, the power in the Eagles’ lineup has long come from Bailey, who finished as the joint-league leader in RBIs with Wingate’s Hali Scott while slashing a ridiculous .438/.500/.876 with 16 homers. 

A career .415 hitter who has driven in an average of over 60 runs per season in each of her three years at Carson-Newman, Bailey is consistent as it gets, also rarely striking out (14 strikeouts in 137 at-bats this season) as she combines plate discipline and raw results to be one of the best all-around hitters in the SAC. If the Eagles are to make a postseason surge, the odds are that Bailey will be behind it.

No. 5 Tusculum Softball

Record: 37-15 (13-11)

First game: at No. 4 Carson-Newman, 3:30 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Tusculum turned heads with a wild 29-1 start to the season (including 13 straight victories to start the 2025 slate) and 8-0 start to SAC play, and while 37 wins going into the conference tournament is certainly nothing to sneeze at, the Pioneers are probably wishing that they had been able to host a first-round SAC Championship game if a few other results had gone their way. 

A midseason slump hit Tusculum hard as it went from conference title contenders to the No. 5 seed in the span of a few weeks, and though it did have a strong nonconference win over then-No.. 8 North Georgia in early April, things will need to be cleaned up for the Pioneers to contend. Sweeping Lander in their regular-season finale was a step in the right direction.

Impact player: Danielle Jason, UTL

Tusculum is one of the most aggressive baserunning teams in the country, having swiped 135 bags in 52 games this year, and Jason leads the charge as one of the most dangerous leadoff women in D-II. The graduate student played three years of D-I softball at Robert Morris and Morgan State before finding her way to the Pioneers, and they’ve been grateful to have her since she arrived on campus prior to the 2024 season. 

Jason has batted well over .400 in both seasons at Tusculum, finishing tied for fourth in the SAC with a .456 average heading into this year’s SAC Championship, and her trademark speed has resulted in 46 stolen bases (second-most in D-II) compared to just five times being caught stealing.

No. 6 Anderson Softball

• Record: 28-22 (13-11)
• First game: at No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, 4 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Head coach Tommy Hewitt, who has been at the helm at Anderson for 20 seasons and won his 600th game this year, always tends to bring a solid ballclub with him to postseason play. 

This time around is no different for the Trojans; though they didn’t equal or better the second-place finish they secured in the SAC in 2024 (which resulted in a trip to the SAC Championship final and a NCAA Tournament berth), they did win five of their final six conference games to secure their spot in the postseason and give themselves another crack at Lincoln Memorial, this time with each others’ seasons on the line.

Impact player: Katie Morris, RHP

Anderson had a bit of an up-and-down year, but the same couldn’t be said for Morris. The 16-game winner finished second in the league in both ERA (2.50) and strikeouts (139) as she took the Trojans’ ace role by the horns this spring, starting 25 games and throwing 17 complete games (with seven shutouts) as she dominated in many of her outings. 

Her one-hit, 13-strikeout gem against Claflin in late February was immediately followed up by quality start after quality start in SAC play, and Anderson will be relying on her heavily to keep runs away as the Trojans’ sometimes-streaky hitting (.311 average, bottom-half of the SAC) tries to get going this weekend.

No. 7 Emory & Henry Softball

• Record: 31-19 (12-12)
• First game: at No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne, 4 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Having started the year 17-3 — a stretch which included a 32-run game in their season opener — the Wasps were bit more and more as the season went along, though it’s hard to complain about postseason play after being picked to finish 10th in the SAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll and closing under .500 last season. 

E&H has some strong pop in its lineup, having batted .350 as a team with the SAC’s second-most home runs (68) and extra-base hits (171), and no other team in the league batted in as many runs as they did (369), either. Look for the Wasps to fly around as the SAC Championship’s dark-horse, especially if they get past Lenoir-Rhyne this weekend.

Impact player: Lydia Taylor, INF

Perhaps best known for her electric 2022 season in which she was named as a Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Freshman of the Year finalist, Taylor, already the program’s all-time leading home-run hitter,  is still putting up some head-turning numbers.

 Across just 40 games played this season, Taylor has already blasted 15 round-trippers with 53 RBIs (tied-fourth in the SAC) and a .372 average, slugging .814 with it in combination as she is the most reliable bat for the conference’s most reliable slugging offense. E&H didn’t beat Lenoir-Rhyne in the regular season, but Taylor left the Bears something to remember her by as she hit a solo homer in one of the defeats — perhaps a sign of things to come.

No. 8 Mars Hill Softball

• Record: 22-22 (12-12)
• First game: at No. 1 Wingate, 3:30 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: You never want to discount a team as simply being happy to be at this point, but that might apply for Mars Hill. The Lions struggled heavily in 2024 as they only won four SAC games, and even with a new coach coming into this year in promoted assistant Dexlie Inman, they were still picked to finish last in the SAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. 

Mars Hill defied expectations throughout the year and became a competitive outfit, however, and split its final regular-season series with UVA Wise to clinch its first SAC Championship trip in 12 years in the process as the Lions showed major strides on the diamond. Upsetting Wingate twice, however, will be a tall task.

Impact player: Maia Sholter, C/INF

One of the key figures behind the Lions’ surprise rise up the SAC pecking order, Sholter posted up her power this season as she’s hit 12 home runs with 39 RBIs while batting .331, providing great numbers as Mars Hill finally began to find some consistency throughout the year and have a season to remember for the first time in a long time. 

Able to slide in behind the dish or in the infield, Sholter is versatile to whatever the Lions need on a gameday, improving her play as the season went along as she knocked eight of her homers in SAC play — including five in a seven-game stretch in late March/early April.

SAC Softball Tournament 2025 Teams:

Here are the eight teams competing in the SAC Softball Conference Tournament

• #1 Seed - Wingate
• #2 Seed - Lenoir-Rhyne
• #3 Seed - Lincoln Memorial
• #4 Seed - Carson-Newman
• #5 Seed -Tusculum
• #6 Seed -Anderson
• #7 Seed - Emory & Henry
• #8 Seed - Mars Hill

2025 SAC Softball Tournament Bracket

The 2025 SAC Softball Tournament will feature four opening round series on April 25-27 and hosted by the highest-ranked schools. The Championship series will follow on May 1-3.

Opening Round - Series 1

Location: Wingate, NC

• April 25 - Game 1: #1 Wingate vs #8 Mars Hill - 3:30 PM ET
• April 26 - Game 2: #1 Wingate vs #8 Mars Hill - 1 PM ET
• April 26 - Game 3 (If Necessary): #1 Wingate vs #8 Mars Hill - 3:30 PM ET

Opening Round - Series 2

Location: Hickory, NC

• April 26 - Game 1: #2 Lenoir-Rhyne vs #7 Emory & Henry - 2 PM ET
• April 27 - Game 2: #2 Lenoir-Rhyne vs #7 Emory & Henry - 12 PM ET
• April 27 - Game 3 (If Necessary): #2 Lenoir-Rhyne vs #7 Emory & Henry - 2:30 PM ET

Opening Round - Series 3

Location: Harrogate, TN

• April 26 - Game 1: #3 Lincoln Memorial vs #6 Anderson - 4:00 PM ET
• April 27 - Game 2: #3 Lincoln Memorial vs #6 Anderson - 1 PM ET
• April 27 - Game 3 (If Necessary):#3 Lincoln Memorial vs #6 Anderson - 3:30 PM ET

Opening Round - Series 4

Location: Jefferson City, TN

• April 25 - Game 1: #4 Carson-Newman vs #5 Tusculum - 12 PM ET
• April 26 - Game 2: #4 Carson-Newman vs #5 Tusculum - 1 PM ET
• April 26 - Game 3 (If Necessary): #4 Carson-Newman vs #5 Tusculum - 3:30 PM ET

2025 SAC Softball Championship Series

Location: Highest Advancing Seed

• May 1 - GM 1: Highest remaining seed vs. lowest remaining seed - Time TBA
• May 1 - GM 2: middle seed vs. middle seed - Time TBA
• May 2 - GM 3: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2
• May 2 - GM 4: loser game 1 vs. loser game 2
• May 2 - GM 5: loser game 3 vs. winner game 4
• May 3 - GM 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 5
• May 3 - GM 7: winner game 3 vs. winner game 5 (if necessary)

How To Watch The 2025 SAC Softball Tournament

Fans can watch all the action from the 2025 SAC Softball Tournament live on FloCollege.

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