Wingate is the South Atlantic Conference regular-season champion.

The Bulldogs finished the SAC portion of their 2023 schedule with an 18-6 record and an overall record of 40-11. They’ll be the No. 1 seed in the SAC Softball Championship, which will begin with the opening round of play April 27-29.

The tournament will conclude with a best-of-three series May 3-4.

Lenoir-Rhyne finished the regular season with a 16-8 record placing them in the No. 2 slot. 

Lincoln Memorial trailed closely behind with a 15-9 conference record to receive the No. 3 seed. 

Newberry finished the season with a 14-10 record, giving them the No. 4 spot, while Carson-Newman finished with a 13-11 SAC record to earn the No. 5 seed. 

Catawba ended the season with a 13-11 record in SAC play to earn the No. 6 seed. 

Carson-Newman won the tiebreaker with Catawba by virtue of a 2-0 head-to-head record.

Limestone earned the No. 7 seed with a SAC record of 12-12, and Anderson picked up the No. 8 seed with a 12-12 league record, as well.

Limestone won the tiebreaker with Anderson. Both teams are 1-1 head to head, and 1-1 against Wingate, however, Limestone went 2-0 against Lenoir-Rhyne, while Anderson was 0-2

The double elimination 2023 SAC Softball Championship will begin with seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 playing at the Wingate Softball Complex in Wingate, North Carolina, and seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 heading to the Bears Field in Hickory, North Carolina. 

The two remaining teams after the opening round will meet for a best-of-three series at the home field of the highest-remaining seed on May 3-4 to determine the 2023 SAC softball champion.

Thursday, April 27 (Wingate, N.C.)

Game 1: No. 5 Carson-Newman vs. No. 4 Newberry, 1 p.m.
Game 2: No. 8 Anderson vs. No. 1 Wingate, 3:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 27 (Hickory, N.C.)

Game 1: No. 6 Catawba vs. No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 7 Limestone vs. No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 28 (Wingate, N.C.)

Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner, 4 p.m.

Friday, April 28 (Hickory, N.C.)

Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, noon
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 29 (Wingate, N.C.)

Game 6: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner 1, noon
Game 7: Game 6 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser, 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Saturday, April 29 (Hickory, N.C.)

Game 6: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, noon
Game 7: Game 6 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser, 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Wednesday, May 3-Thursday, May 4 (TBD)

Championship Series