MWSU, ESU and UNO Share Title, Earn Top Seeds

2011 MIAA Softball Championship Bracket

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western, Emporia State and Nebraska Omaha each earned a share of the 2011 MIAA Regular Season Championship with 18-4 conference records and will be the top three seeds in the upcoming MIAA Softball Tournament.

Missouri Western will be the No. 1 seed by virtue of its 3-1 record in games against Emporia State and Nebraska Omaha this season. Emporia State held a 2-2 record against MWSU and UNO and will be the No. 2 seed, while Nebraska Omaha will be the No. 3 seed after going 1-3 against ESU and MWSU.

Missouri Southern is the fourth seed after posting a 14-8 league record and holding the tiebreaker over Northwest Missouri (also 14-8) with a win over top seed Missouri Western in the regular season. Northwest Missouri is the No. 5 seed in the tournament.

Central Missouri still has a game to play Tuesday against Washburn, but has clinched the tournament's No. 6 seed regardless of the outcome. The Jennies currently stand 11-10 in conference play and have the tiebreaker against No. 7 seed Fort Hays State (11-11) with a regular season victory over Missouri Western.

Washburn will be the No. 8 seed to round out the field. The Lady Blues are currently 9-12 in league play and will finish their regular season Tuesday against Central Missouri.

With the seeds set, so are the first round tournament matchups. All first round matchups will be played Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Blue Valley Sports Complex in Overland Park, Kan.

Top seed Missouri Western will take on No. 8 seed Washburn, No. 2 seed Emporia State will play No. 7 seed Fort Hays State, No. 3 seed Nebraska Omaha will match up with No. 6 seed Central Missouri, and No. 4 seed Missouri Southern will face off with No. 5 seed Northwest Missouri.