SOU returns to the NAIA Championships for its eighth appearance
ASHLAND — The No. 17-ranked Southern Oregon softball team is Indianapolis-bound to make its eighth consecutive appearance in the NAIA Championship Opening Round.
No. 8 Marian (Ind.) (44-10) will be the top seed and site host at Marian Softball Diamond, where the double-elimination tournament will play out Monday, May 13, through Thursday, May 16. SOU (37-17) is the No. 2 seed, No. 24-ranked Middle Georgia State (33-14) the No. 3 seed, Aquinas (Mich.) (40-13) the No. 4 seed and Rio Grande (Ohio) (34-17) the No. 5 seed.
The field, announced Tuesday by the national office, expanded this season from 40 to 48 teams, setting up eight five-team and two four-team Opening Round sites. With the new format comes a new schedule: SOU opens Monday against Middle Georgia State, and if the Raiders win they won’t play again until Wednesday. Game times have yet to be announced.
The 10 Opening Round champions will move on to the NAIA World Series, set for May 23-29 at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga., where SOU won the 2021 and ’23 titles.
The Raiders, fresh off an appearance in the Cascade Conference Tournament championship, were among 16 teams that received at-large bids Tuesday. They’re on the road in the Opening Round for the first time since 2017, the year they first advanced to the World Series.
Marian earned hosting rights while notching Crossroads League regular-season and tournament championships. The Knights — who own the NAIA’s fourth-highest team batting average (.362) and have an All-American pitcher in Olivia Stunkel (26-2, 1.42 ERA) — have postseason history with SOU, most recently splitting a pair of matchups at the 2018 World Series. They were among the last four team’s standing at last year’s final site.
Middle Georgia State, Aquinas and Rio Grande each qualified with automatic bids through their conference tournaments. Rio Grande last reached the World Series in 2004, Aquinas was last there in 2005, and Middle Georgia State has never been at the final site.
MGSU was the Southern States Athletic Conference’s runner-up to No. 14 William Carey (Miss.) with a 19-7 circuit record. A 1.69 team ERA makes the Knights dangerous: They’ve gone 18 consecutive games without giving up more than three runs.
For more on Southern Oregon University Raider athletics, go to souraiders.com. Email Ashland.news at news@ashland.news.
