CLAREMORE, Okla. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the seeds and brackets for the inaugural NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. Each of the 10 locations will feature a four-team double-elimination tournament May 13 – 15.
Three teams will head to Claremore, Okla. for the Opening Round- Rogers State Bracket at the Diamond Sports Complex. Williams Baptist is making its second trip to the championship and enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed. With a 40-6 regular season record, the Eagles clinched their tournament berth as the American Midwest Regular Season Conference Champions.
Central Methodist comes in as the second seeded team. The Eagles are making their third appearance at the National Championship and own a 34-10-1 record on the season. They reached the tournament after claiming the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.
The Hillcats enter the tournament as the No. 3 seeded team. RSU holds a 38-17 record on the season and is making its first appearance at the National Championship. Morningside College (Iowa) rounds out the group as the fourth seeded team. The Mustangs are making their sixth trip to the championship and qualified for the event as the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champions. They have registered a 31-14 record this season.
Williams Baptist and Morningside will kick off the tournament on Monday, May 13 at 5 p.m. and the Hillcats will take on the second seeded Central Methodist at 7:30 p.m.
Pairings for the Opening Round are based upon the following prioritized criteria: geographical location of teams, financial consideration and the final rating from the NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Poll released earlier today. Every attempt is made to not pair Conference/Association of Independent Institutions/Unaffiliated Group teams, but this may be unavoidable.
Rogers State is joined by nine other Opening Round hosts: Belhaven University (Miss.), Concordia University (Calif.), Concordia University (Ore.), Lee University (Tenn.), Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.), Lubbock Christian University (Texas), Oklahoma City University, Park University (Mo.) and the University of South Carolina Beaufort.
Thirty-one teams earned automatic berths to the Opening Round field by placing first or second at their respective conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments or by winning a regular-season championship. An additional five at-large host berth selections and four at-large berths complete the list of qualifiers. The at-large berths were determined by the final Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
Each of the Opening Round winners will advance to the NAIA Softball National Championship final site in Columbus, Ga., May 24 – 30. The format in Columbus is a double-elimination, 10-team event on a single championship field.
For more information about the Opening Round-Rogers State Bracket visit www.rsuhillcats.com/openinground.
For a complete look at the Opening Round pairing click here
