The Valparaiso University softball team finished the regular season in a tie for fourth place in the Horizon League standings and has earned the fifth seed for the Horizon League Championship, which begins Wednesday at Oakland. The Crusaders will face third-seeded Wright State to open the tournament Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

Valpo won six of its final nine Horizon League games of the season, including a three-game sweep of Youngstown State to close out the regular season, to finish the league campaign with a 9-11 record, tied with Green Bay for fourth place. Wright State picked up the third seed by virtue of a 13-7 record in league play. Oakland and UIC tied for the regular season title at 14-6, with the Golden Grizzlies earning the top seed and hosting rights by virtue of the tiebreaker. Cleveland State rounds out the tournament field as the sixth seed, going 8-12 within Horizon League action.

The winner of the Valpo-Wright State game will advance to Thursday to face UIC, while the loser plays an elimination game in the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament later Wednesday afternoon. The tournament goes through Saturday, with the winner earning the league’s automatic berth to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.