BOWIE, Md. – For the first time in five years, the Bowie State softball program has been crowned the 2022 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Northern Division Champions announced by the league office Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs will enter this year’s conference tournament as the No. 3 seed overall and will host No. 6 Elizabeth City State (10-6) in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament.
Bowie State has been crowned this year’s CIAA Northern Division champions after finishing the regular season 22-18-1 overall, 11-5 mark in the CIAA, and 8-2 record against Northern Division opponents. Additionally, BSU reached 20-wins for the first time since 2017 under the leadership of second-year head coach Edward Powell and currently owns an eight-game winning streak heading into Tuesday’s contest.
The bracket consists of the top-8 teams, based on conference winning percentage. The tournament will begin on Tuesday, May 3 with the quarterfinal on the campus of the higher seed teams. Virginia State (11-4) enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host in-state rival and No. 7 Virginia Union (9-7) (Note: first pitch for this game is set for 3:00 p.m.) while No. 4 Winston-Salem State (11-5) will host No. 5 Fayetteville State (11-5).
Advancing teams will head to the semifinal and championship rounds on Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 7, which will be held at RF&P Park in Glen Allen, Va.
All quarterfinal games will begin at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (if the game is necessary) unless otherwise noted by the hosting institution. The first pitch on Friday is set for 10 a.m. while Saturday’s action will begin with the final elimination game at 11 a.m. The first pitch for the championship round is tentatively slated for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Quarterfinal action will be live-streamed by the host institution on the CIAA Sports Network (CIAASN – https://theciaasn.com/). All semifinal and championship games this weekend will also be broadcast live via the CIAASN.
Live stats will be available for all semifinal and championship games. Fans can follow all of Friday and Saturday’s actions here: https://theciaa.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.
A complete look at the softball championship bracket can be viewed HERE. For all information on the 2022 CIAA Softball Championship, please visit HERE.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State University Athletics and its 13 varsity sports teams, please visit www.bsubulldogs.com.