The 2023 CAA Softball Championship begins Tuesday and and will continue through Saturday at Bill Edwards Stadium in Hempstead, New York, on the campus of Hofstra University. 

The five-day, eight-team tournament is the largest field in championship history and features a new format in 2023. 

The action begins Tuesday with two elimination games, with the winners from each advancing to the six-team double-elimination portion of the bracket that will take place Wednesday through Saturday. 

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at noon. If necessary, a second game will be played immediately following the first. 

Fifth-seeded Towson faces eighth-seeded North Carolina A&T to open the tournament at noon Tuesday. 

The Tigers have the top offense in the CAA, leading the conference in team batting average (.289) and runs scored (232), and will be making their first appearance in the championship since 2019. 

Mackenzie Lake led the CAA in batting average (.403), hits (64) and runs scored (38) for Towson. 

The Aggies qualified for the conference tournament in their inaugural CAA season, winning 10 league games, after just three wins in the Big South last year.

The second single-elimination game features sixth-seeded Charleston against seventh-seeded Stony Brook at 2:30 p.m. 

The Cougars return to the championship for the second straight season, while the Seawolves make their CAA Tournament debut in their first season in the conference. 

The battle will come down to Charleston’s pitcher verse Stony Brook’s hitting. 

The Cougars have two pitchers – Payton Lemire (third, 110) and Caroline Conner (fifth, 99) – in the top 5 in strikeouts in the CAA, and Charleston has the third-best team ERA (3.16). 

Conversely, Stony Brook is second in team batting average (.284), led by Alyssa Costello, who is second (.378) in the CAA.

Elon is seeded fourth and will face the higher-seeded winner from Game 1 and Game 2 at noon Wednesday. 

The Phoenix are making their fourth straight trip to the conference tournament, and Elon has advanced to the championship game in two of the past three seasons. 

The Phoenix led the CAA in runs per game (4.9), and Claudia Penny is a big reason why, ranking second in the conference in RBIs (39) and eighth in batting average (.353). 

Hofstra is seed third and will play its first game against the lower-seeded winner from Game and Game 2 at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. 

The Pride has won a league-best 12 CAA Softball titles and are searching for their first since 2018. 

Hofstra hit .315 as a team in conference play to lead the CAA. 

Meghan Giordano leads the conference in on-base percentage (.447), slugging percentage (.695) and RBIs (41) from the third spot in the Pride lineup.

Top-seeded Delaware takes the field for the first time at noon Thursday, facing the lower-seeded winner from Game 3 and Game 4. 

The Blue Hens are making their third consecutive trip to the conference tournament after back-to-back CAA regular-season titles. 

Delaware has a dynamic duo in the circle and ranks second in the league in team ERA (2.67). 

Emily Winburn leads the CAA in wins (17), ranking fourth in ERA (2.16) and strikeouts (100), while Taylor Wroten ranks first in opponent batting average (.188) and is third in ERA (1.90). 

The defending champion, second-seeded UNCW, is the last team to make its tournament debut, playing the higher-seeded winner from Game 3 and Game 4 at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. 

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The Seahawks will be the No. 2 seed in next week's #CAAChamps in Hempstead, N.Y.#UNCW begins its title defense on Thursday, May 11, at 2:30 p.m. at Hofstra's Bill Edwards Stadium.

Full Bracket ? https://t.co/hDQiz1Fk4N pic.twitter.com/YnG60fRJ1V

— UNCW Softball (@UNCWsoftball) May 6, 2023

For the second straight season, the Seahawks pitching staff leads the conference in team earned run average (2.51), including the top two individuals in the league. 

Janel Gamache leads the CAA in ERA (1.50), while ranking sixth in the league in batting average (.360), and Kara Hammock is second in the league with a 1.79 ERA.