DURHAM, N.C. — Third-year head coach Vashion Johnson has once again qualified his team for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship and North Carolina Central University will make its third straight appearance in the postseason tournament after completing its most successful regular season in the modern era.
 
The four-day event is once again being hosted by defending champion Bethune-Cookman University at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Florida from May 8-11. The top four teams from both the Southern Division and the Northern Division qualified for the double-elimination tournament with the first four games slated for Wednesday.
 
The Lady Eagles posted a 21-24 record in the regular season, including a 10-5 mark in league play to earn the third seed from the South. The 21 total wins and 10 conference victories are both new program records since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 2012. NCCU's first three MEAC playoff appearances will now have all occurred under the leadership of Johnson. The third seed garnered this year by the Lady Eagles is also a program first (NCCU was a No. 4 seed in 2017 and 2018).
 
NC Central has won at least one game in the MEAC tourney each of its first two appearances, including three straight triumphs last season to make a run to its best finish of third place. However, the Lady Eagles have lost its postseason opener each time and will look to avoid falling into the elimination bracket after the first game this year when they hit the diamond on Wednesday.
 
The maroon and gray will open up play in the league championship against Howard University, with a slated 3 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday. The Bison (16-27, 8-7) are the second seed from the Northern Division. Howard edged NCCU, 4-3, in the opening weekend of the season in a neutral-site event in Louisiana, which was the two teams' lone meeting this year. Sophomore pitcher Kiara Hurley, who leads the MEAC with 16 wins, did not start and was not the pitcher of record in that loss for the Lady Eagles.
 
The winner of the Howard/NCCU game will play the winner of the No. 1 south-seeded Bethune-Cookman versus No. 4 north-seeded Coppin State University game on Thursday at 3 p.m. The losers of those two first-round games will play an elimination game on Thursday at Noon. The other half of the bracket features No. 1 north-seeded Norfolk State University opening up against No. 4 south-seeded North Carolina A&T State University and No. 2 south-seeded Florida A&M University beginning its completion against No. 3 north-seeded Delaware State University.
 
The Lady Eagles finished the regular season winning their last four games and eight of their last 10, capped by a 3-1 upset win over No. 24 University of North Carolina. NCCU has also won its last six league games to finish 16-8 against MEAC-member institutions from both divisions.
 
NC Central fans are encouraged to follow along throughout the tournament on NCCUEaglePride.com and/or the 2019 MEAC Softball Championship website.