Softball Tiebreakers

The 2025 Empire 8 Conference Softball Tournament will feature the conference's top eight teams from regular season play. On Tuesday, May 6, the No. 5 seed will host the No. 8 seed and No. 6 seed will host the No. 7 seed in first round action (single game). The two first round winners will advance to the six-team double elimination tournament, hosted by the No. 1 seed, starting on Thursday, May 8 and concluding on Saturday, May 10 (raindate or if championship goes to a decisive game is Sunday, May 11). The Empire 8 Champion earns an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

Total points will determine seeding for the conference tournament. Each win is worth 2 points, each tie is worth 1 point.  All teams must attempt to play all games of their conference schedule.

The tie-breakers shall be as follows (in the instance of a three or more way tie, once a team(s) is advanced by a tie-breaker, the remaining teams will begin the tie-breaker process anew starting with the first criteria):
 
  1. (Any Place) If there is a tie(s) for any place(s) in the standing the results of in-season head-to-head competition amongst tied teams shall determine the tie-breaker.
  2. If two teams split their conference games, the team with the best record against highest remaining teams in descending order shall win the tie-breaker. For example:
    1. If two teams are tied for 1st then the record versus the 3rd team would be compared. This procedure would continue through 4, 5, 6, … etc until tie is broken.
    2. If two teams tie for 7th, then their records versus the 1st team would be compared, then 2nd, 3rd etc until the tie is broken.
  3. (3 or More Teams) If there is a tie among three or more teams for a place in the standings the records of conference games amongst the tied teams shall be compared. The team(s) with the best record versus each other shall be advanced and awarded the higher seed. Between the remaining two teams, the two team tie-breaker shall be used.
  4. If there is still a tie amongst three or more teams after C, the committee shall use the best record against the highest seeded teams remaining in descending order as noted in example B1.
  5. Won/loss record vs. common in-region opponents as long as the number of games is equivalent.
  6. Strength of schedule quotient taken from the NCAA Softball Northeast Region primary criteria page.
  7. Coin toss conducted by the commissioner or their designee.