BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The first pitch of the 2021 Conference USA Softball Championship was delivered Wednesday afternoon at the WKU Softball Complex in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The league's top eight teams are battling for an automatic NCAA bid this week in a four-day tournament that culminates in the title game at noon CT Saturday on CBS Sports Network.
 
Wednesday's first round includes four single-elimination games before the event transitions to a double-elimination format for Thursday's quarterfinal and Friday's semifinal rounds. All contests leading up to the championship game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Coverage of the tournament, including live stat and video links are available on conferenceusa.com's Softball Championship Central page.

Game 4: (3) Charlotte 8, (7) Marshall 4 | Box Score
 
No. 3 Charlotte outlasted No. 7 Marshall 8-4 Wednesday night in a first-round matchup between two of the league’s most lethal offenses. The 49ers made their first C-USA Championship appearance since 2017 and amassed 17 hits to extend their postseason stay. Charlotte now turns to No. 2 UAB at 4:30 p.m. Thursday for the second double-elimination quarterfinal.
 
Charlotte (31-17) and Marshall (20-13) met for the fifth time this week after the Niners hosted the final regular season series over the weekend and took three of four games. The Thundering Herd had already etched a tournament win in between the meetings, having upset No. 6 Louisiana Tech with hot bats in game two earlier in the day.
 
The 49ers used a four-run sixth frame to lock up tonight’s victory. C-USA Player of the Year Bailey Vannoy was one of five Charlotte bats to record at least two hits on the night, including a record-breaking double to lead off the big inning. The junior catcher smacked her 22^nd of the year, which now stands as the school’s most in a single season. In the circle, junior Lindsey Walljasper notched her 15^th win of the 2021 campaign after dealing only one hit through two innings of relief.
 
Junior Mya Stevenson also made a move of her own in Marshall’s record books with a three-run bomb in the top of the sixth inning that tied her with teammate Aly Harrell for second on the program’s career home runs list (40). The long shot evened the contest as the Herd trailed 3-1 at the start of the inning. The team’s first run came in the top of the second when senior Katie Adams homered to center field to give Marshall the early lead. Stevenson’s home run was her second of the day after she demolished a grand slam ball that rocketed to the third story of WKU’s parking structure against the Lady Techsters.
 
Charlotte’s first two hitters of its three-run fourth inning reached safely and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Ashleigh Washington. Vannoy and senior Spenser Gray then each poked RBI singles to hand the 49ers a 2-1 lead before the team added a third run on an obstruction call at home. A throwing error later in the fifth would stretch Charlotte’s lead to three.

Game 3: (4) WKU 3, (8) UTSA 2 | Box Score
 
No. 4 seed and C-USA Championship host WKU edged No. 8 UTSA 3-2 in Wednesday's first round. C-USA Regular Season Champion and top seed North Texas now await the Hilltoppers for the start of the double-elimination quarterfinal round at 2 p.m. Thursday. 
 
WKU (28-12) sophomore Jordan Ridge drew the go-ahead walk with bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth and the game tied at two-all. Freshman righty Katie Gardner picked up the win in four relief innings as she allowed just one hit and pair of walks with six strikeouts. The squad rounded up seven hits, led by sophomore Princess Valencia who went 2-for-3 and crossed the plate on Ridge's game-winning walk.

UTSA (14-31) registered its pair of runs off of four hits, including a 2-for-4 night from freshman leadoff Kat Ibarra. Both came in the fourth inning as senior Madison Washington pounded her ninth home run of the season and freshman pinch hitter Erykah Guerrero sent a sacrifice fly to right field to take a short-lived, one-run lead.

WKU evened the contest 2-2 in the bottom half of the fourth with an RBI infield single from freshman Brylee Hage. The Hilltoppers were first to strike earlier in the third inning on an RBI base hit from senior Paige Carter.

Game 2: (7) Marshall 9, (6) Louisiana Tech 2 | Box Score
 
No. 7 seed Marshall exploded for six runs on five hits in the second inning to coast to a 9-2 opening-day victory over No. 6 Louisiana Tech in a rematch of the 2019 C-USA title game on Wednesday. The Thundering Herd moves on to meet third-seeded Charlotte in the last game of the first round at 7:30 p.m.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Marshall (20-12) woke the bats up quickly, starting with a leadoff double from junior Grace Chelemen. Freshman Paige Halliwill and senior Aly Harrell struck a couple of RBI singles, and junior Mya Stevenson blasted her first-career grand slam to the third story of WKU's parking structure behind left field.
 
The seven seed tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning as Chelemen once again ignited a rally with her second leadoff double of the day. Marshall tallied 16 hits, including four three-hit performances from Chelemen, Halliwill, Harrell and senior Saige Pye.
 
Freshman right-hander Brianna McCown, in just her third start of the season, went the distance for the Herd as she earned her fourth win in her first complete game of the year. The newcomer was responsible for two runs, one earned, on five hits and three strikeouts in seven innings.
 
Louisiana Tech (22-30) was led at the plate by junior Lindsay Edwards, who went 2-for-3 with a walk. The Lady Techsters tapped into the Thundering Herd lead in the bottom of the fifth, posting two runs on an infield throwing error while the bases were loaded.
 
Game 1: (8) UTSA 4, (5) Middle Tennessee 2 | Box Score

For the fourth-straight year, the C-USA Championship's No. 8 seed pulled off an upset of the field's fifth seed as UTSA used the long ball to drive past Middle Tennessee 4-2 in Wednesday's tournament opener. The Roadrunners were also responsible for the first-round upset of a No. 5 as the eighth seed in 2019. 
 
UTSA (15-30), the league leader in home runs this season (52), saw a pair swung in back-to-back innings from junior Marena Estell and reigning C-USA Hitter of the Week junior Riley Grunberg, who owns C-USA's individual lead in homers (14). The Roadrunners advance to face No. 4 WKU (27-12) in the evening portion of the first round at 5 p.m. CT.
 
Estell powered her fourth home run of the year in the top of the second frame to give the Roadrunners an early lead before Grunberg sent a straight shot to center to plate three more runs and pad the lead. Middle Tennessee (26-22) senior Lexi Cushing cut the advantage in half with a long shot of her own in the bottom of the fourth, marking the 50^th of her career.
 
UTSA senior Clarissa Hernandez earned the win in the circle, allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk. Freshman Tatum Seith held on for the save with no hits produced and one strikeout in her 1.1 innings of work.