The Cougars locked up the third seed in the tournament with a pair of wins over Elon in their final series of the regular season. No. 3 CofC (32-21, 14-9 SoCon) will face No. 6 Western Carolina (24-32, 9-15 SoCon) in the third game of the tournament scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
After a single-elimination play-in game between the eight and nine seeds, the tournament will follow a double-elimination style bracket to crown a champion which will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Last season, the Cougars lost in the opening round but then sprung a spirited run which landed them in the championship game and ultimately earned them the runner-up trophy.
The 19th annual SoCon Championship is set to start Wednesday at 10 a.m., with No. 8 Furman (17-34, 6-18 SoCon) taking on No. 9 Samford (13-40, 6-18 SoCon) in a single elimination contest with the winner facing the 2012 regular season champion and No. 1-seeded Georgia Southern (38-17, 22-2 SoCon) at approximately 5 p.m. that afternoon. No. 2 Chattanooga (37-14, 20-2 SoCon) squares off with No. 7 Elon (22-25, 9-15 SoCon) at noon in game two.
The host, No. 5 Appalachian State (21-23, 9-13 SoCon), matches up against No. 4 UNCG in the night game of the opening day, with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Tickets will be available for purchase on site. All-session adult passes will be available for $30 while all-session youth passes (pre-kindergarten) will cost $15. Single session passes will also be available for purchase and will cost $5 for adults and $3 for youths. Groups of 10 or more will be available for $2 a person. No credit cards will be accepted. Only cash and checks made payable to "Southern Conference" will be taken at the gate. Students at Southern Conference institutions get in free with a valid I.D.
All of the action will be available LIVE through SoConTV. Fans who are unable to attend will have the opportunity to view all of the games by logging on to SoConSports.com and subscribing to SoConTV. The championship game, which is slated for Saturday at 1:30 p.m., will be broadcast on ESPN3. From the first pitch to the final out, every moment of the softball action will be available, including exclusive coach and student-athlete interviews and the final awards presentation. An archived version of the event will also be available after the tournament.
