For Immediate Release
Sunday, April 30, 2017
NSIC Media Relations
PDF Bracket
Tournament Website

BURNSVILLE, Minn. –  The 2017 NSIC Softball Tournament bracket has been set as regular season play concluded Sunday afternoon.  The top ten teams in the final regular season standings will participate in the double-elimination tournament, which will be held May 4-6 at Bowden Field & Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 
 
Minnesota State earned the number one seed after winning the NSIC Regular Season Championship with its 28-2 league record. MSU will take on the lowest seed remaining following the SMSU/MISU & USF/NSU games.  Winona State, the second seed will take on the remaining higher seed. 

Day one match-ups are listed below:
 

Time	Field	Teams
Thursday, May 4, 2017
10 a.m.	Bowden Field	(8) SMSU vs. (9) Minot State
10 a.m.	Sherman Park	(7) Sioux Falls vs. (10) Northern State
12 p.m.	Bowden Field	(4) Minnesota Duluth vs. (5) St. Cloud State
12 p.m.	Sherman Park	(3) Augustana vs. (6) Bemidji State
2 p.m.	Bowden Field	(1) Minnesota State vs. Lower Seed of game 1&2 winner
2 p.m.	Sherman Park	(2) Winona State vs. Higher Seed of game 1&2 winner

 
Tiebreakers:
- SMSU tied for eighth; SMSU and Minot State split during regular season; MSU, WSU, Augie swept both SMSU and MISU; both teams split with UMD; SMSU split with St. Cloud State while MISU was swept.

The winner of the NSIC Softball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.  The 42-team central region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis. In all, eight teams will advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on May 11-13, with the top two seeds in the region hosting. 

The NCAA softball selections will be announced on www.NCAA.com on Monday, May 8 at 9 a.m. (CT).  The NCAA Championships are set for May 25-29 at Moyer Sports Complex, Salem, Virginia; City of Salem and Mountain East Conference, hosts.