ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman hosts the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference softball tournament beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. at Ormond Beach Sports Complex.

The Wildcats (21-31) are the No. 2 seed from the Southern Division and will face Morgan State (23-20) at 1:30 in the double-elimination tournament. The championship game is slated at 1 p.m. Saturday, with an additional game if needed following.

The champion receives an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament

Bethune-Cookman has won the tournament eight times, the last in 2012. Head Coach Laura Watten won her last conference championship in 2004, but her famed 2005 team recovered from a championship game loss, received an at-large NCAA tournament bid and won the Gainesville regional with victories over host Florida and USF. Bethune-Cookman went on the Super Regionals at Texas.
The Wildcats have made it to championship Saturday the past three years, only to fall to Florida A&M each time. The Wildcats and Rattlers have combined to win 20 of the 24 tournament championships.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN UPDATE: The Wildcats placed seven players on the All-MEAC team, most notably Ryan Jackson, who swept Player Of The Year and Rookie Of The Year honors.  Jackson lead the MEAC in batting average (.409) slugging percentage (.766), on base percentage (.484), runs batted in (44) and total bases (105) during the regular season.
Currently ranked 31st in the nation in home runs with 13, Jackson was also named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I National Freshman of the Year Top 25. Joining Jackson on the All-MEAC First Team from Bethune-Cookman were Kaitlin Alamprese (catcher), Kailey Richard (second base), Brianna Sanders (shortstop) and Mariah Davis (outfield) while first baseman Iesha Waters and Sabrina Anguiano made second team.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM: Bethune-Cookman started the season 1-18, but went 19-8 to close within seven games of .500 before dropping its final three.

BASEPATHS: Alamprese enters the tournament on seven-game hitting streak … Waters and Briana Sanders have reached base in the last four games … Davis and Waters have played all 52 games. Former B-CU star Amber Jackson is Head Coach at Delaware State, the No. 2 from the North … Hampton and Florida A&M are the No. 1 seeds.

TOURNAMENT COVERAGE: Visit MEACsports.com for the Tournament Central and live stats. For in-game updates, follow Bethune-Cookman's official twitter feed at @bcusoftball. Recaps will be available at BCUathletics.com