WKU Softball set for 2024 Conference USA Tournament
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Softball is set to open the 2024 Conference USA Tournament on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT against the winner of the [3] LA Tech/[6] UTEP game. All tournament games up to the championship (CBS Sports Network) will be available to stream on ESPN+. The Hilltoppers are headed back to NM State’s Softball Complex, since opening conference action in March.
As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, a win on Thursday will set the Tops up for game seven and will face the winner of the [1] Liberty and [4] NM State game on Friday at 1 p.m. CT. Being the tournament is a double-elimination set-up, a loss Thursday would put the Tops into game eight at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Liberty earned the top seed in the six-team postseason event after winning the league’s regular season title. WKU earned the second seed, their highest since 2015. LA Tech placed third, host NM State is fourth, while Jax State and UTEP round out the field.
The Hilltoppers enter the weekend with an overall record of 31-19-1, which included a 16-7 mark in CUSA action. WKU claimed series wins over NM State (2-1) and UTEP (2-1), while picking up sweeps over FIU (3-0), Sam Houston (3-0), and Middle Tennessee (3-0). The Hilltoppers avoided any road sweeps this season but fell in the three-game series to LA Tech, Liberty, and Jax State.
In 2024, WKU produced Conference USA’s leader in batting average (TJ Webster), slugging and home runs (Taylor Sanders), and strikeouts (Katie Gardner), as they led the league all season in team batting average and fielding. In postseason awards, the Tops saw a record eight different Hilltoppers named to All-CUSA teams, including Webster as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and Gardner as CUSA Pitcher of the Year.
In the seven Conference USA Tournaments that WKU Softball has competed in, the Hilltoppers have won two – 2021 and the program’s first event during the 2015 campaign. Overall, the Red and White own a 14-9 record in CUSA Tournament games.
In 2021, WKU became the first CUSA Tournament host to make the event field since Florida Atlantic in 2014. WKU became the first host to win the tournament since East Carolina in 2011.
