MEAC Bracket

NORFOLK, Va., May 9, 2022 -- Norfolk State will host the 2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship on Wednesday, May 11 through Saturday, May 14 at the NSU Softball Field. The Morgan State Bears will enter tournament play as the No. 1 seed.
 
The top six teams in the regular-season standings will compete in the double-elimination tournament, which offers a chance to earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
 
Reigning MEAC champion Morgan State (29-13 overall, 18-3 MEAC) will look to defend its 2021 crown. The Bears, who set a new school record for wins in a season this year, are currently on a 14-game win streak dating back to April 20. Morgan State's 18 league victories are also the most in school history, which surpasses the 1998 team that went 16-0 in MEAC play.
 
Howard (27-21, 17-4 MEAC) enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed. This season's MEAC record was Howard's best finish since winning back-to-back MEAC Northern Division titles in 2009 and 2010. The Bison will be looking for just their second MEAC title after claiming their first championship in 2007.
 
The No. 3 seed, Norfolk State (31-21, 16-5 MEAC), tied the program record for wins in a season during the Div. I era with 31. For most of the season, the Spartans were tied in the league standings with Morgan State, just as the preseason conference voting predicted. The Bears won the series between the two, and then the Spartans dropped a crucial MEAC series to Maryland Eastern Shore to earn the third seed in the tournament.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore (18-31, 13-8 MEAC) is the No. 4 seed. After opting out of the 2021 season, UMES returned from the 23-month hiatus focused and ready to win. The Hawks went 10-2 during their first four conference series, sitting atop the MEAC standings for the first few weeks of conference play.
 
North Carolina Central (11-34, 8-13 MEAC), the No. 5 seed, won MEAC series against Delaware State (3-0) and South Carolina State (2-1) to qualify for this year's championship.
 
Rounding out the tournament participants is No. 6 seed Coppin State (7-35, 7-14 MEAC). The Eagles claimed their spot in the tournament after a three-game series sweep of South Carolina State.

Norfolk State, Maryland Eastern Shore, North Carolina Central and Coppin State will all be in search of their first-ever MEAC title.
 
The 2022 MEAC Softball Championship begins Wednesday, May 11 at 9 a.m., when Maryland Eastern Shore battles North Carolina Central. Norfolk State takes on Coppin State at 12 p.m., while top-seeded Morgan State will play the winner of the UMES-NCCU game at 3 p.m.
 
Wednesday's action concludes with a 6 p.m. game featuring Howard and the winner of the NSU-CSU matchup.
 
The elimination round begins with two games on Thursday at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., followed by a winner's bracket game at 6 p.m.
 
Friday's semifinal games are at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
 
The championship game is set for Saturday, May 14, beginning at 12 p.m., and will be broadcast live on the MEAC Digital Network on YouTube, with the team from the winners' bracket needing only one win to claim the championship trophy. If the team that comes out of the losers' bracket wins the first game on Saturday, a second game will be played at a time to be determined later.
 
Tickets are $10 per day or $35 for a tournament pass which covers all games over the four days. All tickets must be purchased at NSUSpartansTickets.com.
 
For more information on the 2022 MEAC Softball Championship, please visit the Championship Central page.
 
 
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
 
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 51^st year of intercollegiate competition with the 2021-22 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically Black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.