FOREST, Va. --- The ODAC regular season closed on Tuesday evening, setting the placements in the upcoming ODAC Softball Tournament bracket in stone with eight teams slated to embark on a two tournament format. Roanoke College and Randolph-Macon College headline the field enter the conference postseason.
The ODAC tournament's traditional home -- the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va. -- is in the midst of a $15-20 million facelift as it prepares to host further ODAC, NCAA, and other local, regional, and national action in the coming years. That will include the opening weekend of the ODAC postseason and the final eight teams of the Division III Softball Championship in 2024.
This year, both weekends of the league's new format will be hosted at member campuses. The structure mimics the Division III's regional and super-regional rounds. On the first weekend slated for May 5-7 at the #1 and #2 seeds, the tournament's field will be split into two four-team pods for double-elimination competition. The winners of those two pods will meet a few days later, May 11-12, in a best-of-three championship series for the right to lift the ODAC trophy and earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA bracket.
RELATED: Tournament Website | Pod #1 Bracket | Pod #2 Bracket
Top-seeded Roanoke and second-seeded Randolph-Macon will host those two pods. While both teams finished 17-3 in the league table, the Maroons swept the Yellow Jackets in their regular season series, earning RC the advantage in the ODAC's tiebreaking protocols.
Roanoke, which will be hosting their pod at Liberty University given the Moyer's lack of availability and the Mountain East Conference using the Maroons' temporary home in Botetourt, Va., for its championship weekend, will be joined by the fourth, fifth, and eighth seeds in Pod #1. Randolph-Macon will welcome the third, sixth, and seventh seeded teams to Ashland in Pod #2.
Six-time defending ODAC champion Virginia Wesleyan University (16-4) features as the third seed.
Guilford College and the University of Lynchburg tied at 11-9 in the conference standings. They split their season series, requiring the ODAC's second step in the tiebreakers to settle the stalemate -- the ODAC 5-Point Tiebreaker. This step involves assigning points in multiples of five for victories over the other teams in the league. The Quakers sweep of top-seeded Roanoke during the regular season proved to be the major difference-maker, afford Guilford the #4 seed. Lynchburg will play as the fifth seed.
The remaining three seeds were assigned outright from the league table. Bridgewater College (10-10) sits as the sixth seed, while Randolph College (9-11) opens play as the seventh seed. Shenandoah University (8-12) rounds out the field as the eighth seed.
Listed below is the entire schedule for the 2023 ODAC Softball Tournament. Game dates are subject to change to accommodate items like graduation ceremonies. Game times will be assigned as dates and travel are confirmed within each pod. The dates of the final weekend could be altered depending upon the graduation schedules of the two competing teams.
For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites and stop by the ODAC tournament website. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.
2023 ODAC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
at Member Campus Facilities | Higher Seeded Team is HOME in All Games
POD #1 -- HOSTED BY ROANOKE AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Friday, May 5
Game 1: #8 Shenandoah vs. #1 Roanoke
Game 2: #5 Lynchburg vs. #4 Guilford
Saturday, May 6
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (elimination game)
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (elimination game)
Sunday, May 7
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 (if necessary): Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
POD #2 -- HOSTED AT RANDOLPH-MACON
Friday, May 5
Game 1: #7 Randolph vs. #2 Randolph-Macon
Game 2: #6 Bridgewater vs. #3 Virginia Wesleyan
Saturday, May 6
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (elimination game)
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (elimination game)
Sunday, May 7
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 (if necessary): Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND - BEST-OF-3 SERIES - AT HIGHEST REMAINING SEED
Thursday, May 11
Game 1: Winner Pod 1 vs. Winner Pod 2
Friday, May 12
Game 2: Winner Pod 1 vs. Winner Pod 2
Game 3 (if necessary): Winner Pod 1 vs. Winner Pod 2
*All dates subject to change for various reasons (graduation, weather, etc.); Times to be assigned soon