COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The bracket for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball Championship tournament is set. Colorado Mesa University will host the championship event in Grand Junction, Colo., as the RMAC Champion and No. 1 seed. The times and fields of the matchups are listed on the bracket linked below.
CMU (27-19, 26-12 RMAC) claimed the regular-season title after their 3-1 weekend at home versus Colorado Christian, who misses the eight-team field for the first time in the three-year history of their program. After their matches concluded on Saturday, the Mavs' place among the field was still undecided until late Sunday when, after a five-hour weather delay, Metro State staged a fourth-inning rally to set up a 10-6 win over conference leader CSU-Pueblo. In last year's edition of the RMAC Softball Championships, Colorado Mesa, then the No. 2 seed, went 2-2, defeating Fort Lewis in the opening round, but coming up short against UC-Colorado Springs in the second. The Mavericks then blanked CSU-Pueblo 3-0 before exiting the tourney against eventual runner-up Adams State. Despite splitting their four games, they finished the weekend with a plus-5 run differential.
CSU-Pueblo (26-19, 23-11 RMAC) enters the tournament as the conference's second seed. The ThunderWolves finished as co-runners-up for the conference championship with Chadron State, each team going 3-1 in home series in their final series. The Pack had the task of hosting Metro State, who led the conference standings going into the deciding weekend of play. They won both Saturday games and the early game on Sunday before succumbing to a late-game outburst by the Roadrunners in Sunday's game two. CSU-Pueblo was the fourth seed in last year's tournament, losing their first-round game to tourney runner-up Adams State, winning their first playback game against Western New Mexico, and falling 3-0 to Colorado Mesa on the second day.
Since they added softball as a varsity sport in 2007, Chadron State (27-21, 23-11 RMAC) receives its second playoff berth and highest-ever seed, coming into the tournament seeded third. The Eagles were co-runners-up with CSU-Pueblo, but were behind the ThunderWolves in seeding only after three steps in the tiebreaking system. Eight hundredths of a point out of first, CSC was less than one game from capturing their first RMAC title. During their only other playoff run in 2010, the sixth-seeded Eagles lost to CSU-Pueblo in their opening game, eliminated No. 2 Western New Mexico in the first playback round, but dropped their third game to eventual champ Metro State.
The fourth-seeded Metro State Roadrunners (26-14, 20-11 RMAC) return to the RMAC Championships after a one-year hiatus and will attempt to play themselves back into an NCAA tournament bid for the first time since their 2009-11 run of three straight qualifying seasons. Metro State was No. 5 in the NCAA South Central Region in the latest rankings on April 23, making them the highest-ranked team in the conference. They own a win over the region's No. 2 Angelo State, a split with No. 9 UC-Colorado Springs, and a loss to the regional and national No. 1-ranked team, West Texas A&M.
Drawing Metro State in the first round will be No. 5 Adams State (26-23, 24-15), who received an identical seed in 2013. The Grizzlies fell 1-0 in last year's RMAC Championship title game. They own two historical RMAC Championships, winning in 1991 and 1993.
No. 6 UC-Colorado Springs (25-17, 21-14 RMAC) also returns to the RMAC Championships with an identical seed as last year. The 2013 Mountain Lions were one game from the title match on two occasions, falling to eventual champ Colorado Mines in the third round, then again to runner-up Adams State in their playback game. Their only previous title was in 2004. They draw No. 3 Chadron State.
Regis (22-26, 21-17) assumes the seventh seed after a heroic effort in the decisive weekend, sweeping UC-Colorado Springs on the road, 4-0. The Rangers are owners of four previous RMAC Tournament Championships. In their last appearance in 2012, they upset No. 2 CSU-Pueblo in the opening round before taking losses to eventual champ Fort Lewis and eventual runner-up Colorado Christian.
Completing the field of eight is Fort Lewis College (23-27, 19-19). The Skyhawks, winners of the 2012 RMAC Championship tournament, have faced a daunting schedule featuring six of the region's top ten teams. Over one-quarter (13 out of 50) of their games have been against ranked opponents. This is Fort Lewis's third straight RMAC Championship tournament bid.
The 2014 RMAC Softball Championships commence Thursday, May 1, and conclude with the championship game on Saturday, May 3.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE 2014 RMAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET