No. 24 Rio Grande, Midway earn NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Rd bids
No. 24 Rio Grande, Midway earn NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Rd bids
NAIA SCHEDULE I NAIA TOP 25 I BRACKET REVEAL I HOST SITES
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The River States Conference will be represented by No. 24 University of Rio Grande (Ohio) and Midway (Ky.) University in the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round to be held May 14-16 at various sites around the country.
No. 24 Rio Grande (35-11) and Midway (23-20) learned their NAIA national tournament bracket and pairings on Tuesday (May 8) with the NAIA Softball Bracket Reveal Show on the NAIA Facebook page. Both teams learned that they will be headed to Bowling Green, Ky., for the NAIA Opening Round but be in different brackets at that location.
Rio Grande, which won the RSC Tournament and regular-season championships, earned the No. 3 seed in the Bowling Green (Ky.) Bracket #2. The RedStorm is ranked No. 24 In the NAIA Softball Top 25 Poll on May 8, the last one before the national tournament. Rio Grande faces No. 2 seed Faulkner (Ala.) (44-12) in the first game of the NAIA Opening Round on May 14 at 11:30 a.m.
Rio Grande is making its fourth consecutive and fourth overall appearance in the NAIA Opening Round. Faulkner, which is ranked No. 17 in the NAIA Top 25, is making its first NAIA appearance.
Midway earned its first NAIA Opening Round bid in team history after earning RSC Tournament runner-up status. The Eagles drew the No. 4 seed in the Bowling Green (Ky.) Bracket #1 and take on No. 1 seed Marian (Ind.) (47-5), which is ranked No. 3 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll. Marian is making its fifth NAIA Opening Round appearance in its fourth in a row.
The champions from each of the 10 opening round tournaments advance to the 38th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Clermont, Fla., from May 25 – 31. These programs will participate in a double-elimination national championship at the Legends Way Ball Fields. Last year, Oklahoma City won its NAIA-record 10th championship – and second in-a-row – after a 4-1 victory over Corban (Ore.) on June 1.