The Western Kentucky softball team will play for a Conference USA championship.

The Hilltoppers survived the C-USA Softball Championship losers’ bracket Friday at the WKU Softball Complex with a 3-2 win over Charlotte and a 4-2 victory over North Texas, and will now play UAB in the final at noon Saturday.

“I felt like our approach was different. I felt like our confidence was higher. We gave ourselves a chance to win the game and I feel like a lot of players stepped up,” WKU coach Amy Tudor said. “I felt like it was a full team victory.”

WKU (30-13) was sent to the losers’ bracket by North Texas on Thursday, and it was the Mean Green again standing in the way of the Hilltoppers in Friday’s final game. North Texas lost 2-1 to UAB in Friday’s semifinal.

After lasting just a third of an inning in the first meeting with the Mean Green, Shelby Nunn pitched a gem with the season on the line. The redshirt junior and Bowling Green native allowed two runs — one earned — on just two hits in the complete-game victory. She struck out two batters.

“It’s very refreshing. North Texas is an excellent team — they’ve got an excellent offense, defense and obviously Hope (Trautwein) is a very dominant pitcher in the conference,” Nunn said. “I think just bringing a new mindset — coach talked to me before the game and she really just helped me clear my head — and this game I really had to use my defense and I knew they had my back. This was a total team effort.”

WKU was two-hit in the first game by Hope Trautwein, and again faced the righty on Friday but struck early. With two down in the top of the first inning, Kennedy Sullivan delivered a solo home run over the right-field wall to give WKU a lead.

North Texas took advantage of two fielding mishaps in the third and evened the game at a run apiece before taking a 2-1 lead on a solo shot from Kailey Gamble to lead off the next inning for the Mean Green.

WKU got the run back, plus another to take the lead, in the sixth. Paige Carter walked and Jordan Ridge followed with a triple down the right-field line to even the game. Kendall Smith later hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Ridge and put the Hilltoppers ahead 3-2.

“I think just focusing in on having those quality at bats again (was key),” Ridge said. “Hope — she’s a great pitcher. She was the Pitcher of the Year I think in the conference and yesterday was just dominant against us, but I think we were trying to today focus on the pitches that we know we can hit and not swinging at some of her riseballs and stuff like that.”

The Hilltoppers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Brylee Hage hit an infield single and advanced to second on an overthrow on the play, and Taylor Davis singled to left to put runners on the corners. Princess Valencia came in to pinch hit, and her bloop single to left put WKU up 4-2, before Nunn shut the door by retiring the Mean Green in order to send the Hilltoppers to the league final.

WKU almost didn’t make it to that point, however.

In Friday’s first elimination game, the Hilltoppers were forced to survive a late rally from Charlotte before closing out the 3-2 victory. Cori Henderson hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to get Charlotte on the board, before Nunn came on to replace Sullivan in the circle.

The 49ers had two baserunners advance on a pitch in the dirt, and WKU elected to intentionally walk Bailey Vannoy to load the bases with one out. Spenser Gray hit a grounder to first and Maddie Bowlds came home for the force out, before Charlotte added another run on a wild pitch to make it 3-2. Nunn got the next batter to pop out to short to keep the season alive.

“Shelby is a great pitcher, obviously. We talked before the game about what she was doing and how she was approaching batters,” Tudor said. “I felt like today she went into the game against Charlotte in a tough situation and got us out of there. I thought that was a huge situation for her to be in and to build confidence going into the North Texas game.

“I knew she was throwing that game — I’m not sure if she knew she was throwing that game — but she threw really good pitches against (North Texas on Thursday), they were just all balls. She attacked the zone today and we played great defense behind her. Her mindset shifted, so I’m really proud of her today.”

WKU entered the tournament believing it would need to do the little things right to advance, and after getting away from that in Thursday’s loss to North Texas, scored its first run Friday in the third inning against Charlotte with a walk, a sacrifice bunt and by taking advantage of a throwing error.

The Hilltoppers added to its lead with an RBI double from Sullivan in the fifth and an RBI single from Ridge in the seventh to make it 3-0, before eventually holding on for the 3-2 win.

Sullivan allowed two runs — one earned — on six hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings against the 49ers. She struck out five batters. Lindsey Walljasper allowed three runs — only one of which was earned — on six hits and two walks. She struck out two.

Saturday’s championship game is scheduled to begin at noon and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

“I think that they’re coming in ready to fight and I think that we have to show up and show out, have good at bats, have everyone in it and talking the whole time, dugout up, and I think we can do it,” WKU center fielder Brylee Hage said.