TOURNAMENT – LIVE STATS – VIDEO
TOURNAMENT - RESULTS
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Opening Round Brackets - HTML) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the seeds and brackets for the 2014 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. Each of the 10 locations will feature a four-team double-elimination tournament. There are 40 qualifiers that will compete from May 12 - 14.
The format is a double-elimination, four-team tournament. On May 12, the No. 1 seed faces the No. 4 seed in each tournament, while the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds compete later in the day. The second day (May 13) sees three games and the third and final day (May14) has the championship game and "if necessary" contest. The 10 Opening Round champions will punch their ticket for the 34th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Ga., from May 23 - 29.
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.
Defending national champion Concordia (Calif.) returns to the National Championship Opening Round for the second-straight year. The Eagles, who have been ranked No. 1 in each of the nine polls this year and 17 in-a-row dating back to last season, bring a 48-5 overall record into the event. Concordia is one of three repeat Opening Round hosts as the Eagles went 3-0 last year in winning the Concordia Opening Round bracket. Overall, 23 teams are back after a 2013 National Championship Opening Round appearance. There are three teams in this year's field with an undefeated Opening Round all-time record at 3-0: Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), Cal State San Marcos and Concordia.
The 10 Opening Round hosts announced on April 16 are: Auburn University at Montgomery (Ala.), Columbia College (Mo.), Concordia University (Calif.), Davenport University (Mich.), College of Idaho, Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.), Oklahoma City University, Reinhardt University (Ga.), St. Gregory's University (Okla.) and William Carey University (Miss.).
The Eagles welcome to the Concordia Bracket, #17 Simpson (CA), the second seed, #23 Concordia (OR), the third seed, and St. Thomas (FL), the fourth seed. Simpson earned the bid by winning the Gulf Coast/Cal Pac Automatic Berth, are 35-6, and making their first opening round appearance. Concordia (OR) won the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament, are 33-16, are making their second opening round appearance, and were 1-2 in the opening round last year. St. Thomas won The Sun Conference Tournament, are 27-25, and are making their first opening round appearance.
For the 18th-straight time, Concordia (Calif.) lands in the No. 1 position in the 2014 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The streak dates back to the first regular-season 2013 edition. In this final 2014 installment, the Eagles gathered 560 total points and all 20 first-place votes. Champions of the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Tournament, Concordia heads into the Softball National Championship Opening Round with a 48-5 overall record. The 5-0 win on April 26 in the GSAC title game was Concordia's 12th-straight victory. The Eagles head to their second-straight Opening Round, which is scheduled for May 12-14. No. 16 Oklahoma City maintains the most wins in the NAIA with 49, No. 1 Concordia (Calif.) and No. 6 St. Gregory's (Okla.) are next with 48. With all first-place votes, No. 1 Concordia (Calif.) has now been the unanimous pick in three polls this year, including the last two. The 18-straight No. 1 rankings for Concordia is the longest stretch for any program since former member California Baptist rattled through 24-consecutive polls from 2009-11. Concordia has now held the No. 1 position in 22 of the last 24 polls overall dating back to the 2012 season.
The GSAC Player of the Year is Jenna Jorgenson of Concordia. Crystal Rosenthal of Concordia is the GSAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year. Rosenthal, who is in her sixth year at the helm for Concordia, led the defending NAIA National Champion Eagles to their third GSAC Championship and first GSAC Tournament Championship.
In addition to Rosenthal and Jorgenson, Emily Craig, Caitrin Debaun, Stevie Goldstein, Hannah Howell, Brittani McGue , and Annette Merjano were all selected All-GSAC in 2014. Jorgenson is fifth in the nation in runs (65) and and third in RBI (67). She is sixth in home runs (16), third in slugging percentage (.980), and 12th in average (.493). Debaun is second in the NAIA in doubles (21) and 43rd in runs (49). Goldstein is fourth in the NAIA in ERA (.88) and 31st in wins (18). Howell is 32nd in the country in home runs with 11. McGue is seventh in the NAIA in wins (22), fifth in saves (4), 47th in innings pitched (160), and 11th with a 1.140 ERA. Merjano is eighth in the country in RBI (63), 14th in home runs (13), and 19th in slugging percentage (.790).
Concordia and Simpson meet for the 14th time in program history and CU is 10-3 all-time. Concordia defeated Simpson twice in the 2013 Cal Pac-GSAC Tournament to win the 2013 Cal Pac-GSAC Tournament Championship. Simpson (35-6) is making their first-ever National Championship Opening Round appearance after clinching the Cal-Pac Automatic Berth.
The Red Hawks are fourth in the NAIA in slugging percentage (.570), sixth in home runs per game (1.122), and eighth in RBI per game (6.659). Wayne Stowers has been the head coach for the past six seasons since the program's first year in 2008. Stowers earned California Pacific Conference Coach of the Year Award in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
Ryan Norton was named California-Pacific Player of the Year and teammates Paris Hallums and Courtney Thomas were selected as Cal-Pac Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Simpson boasted six All-Cal-Pac selections, including Paris Hallums, Kara Wall, Ryan Norton, Courtney Thomas, Chelsea Dunn, and Kaylana Mah. Wall ranks fourth in home runs per game (.371) and seventh in slugging percentage (.869). Mah is seventh in runs scored per game (1.282), while Thomas is eighth in home runs per game (.316) and ninth in slugging percentage (.864).
Simpson University was founded in 1921 as Simpson Bible Institute by W.W. Newberry, who served as its first president. Simpson University is a private, liberal arts college located on a 92-acre campus in Redding, California.
Concordia and Concordia (OR) meet for the ninth time in program history. Concordia fell by a score of 1-5 to the Cavaliers in 2009 and is 3-5 all-time against Concordia (OR). Concordia (OR) (33-16) is making its second National Championship Opening Round appearance and is 1-2 overall in Opening Round play.
The Cavaliers are ranked 14th in the NAIA in home runs per game (1.000). Carrie Kosderka-Farrell has been the head coach for 10 seasons and has led her teams to one conference title and two NAIA postseason appearances.
The Cavaliers boasted five All-Cascade Collegiate Conference selections, including Taylor Bussey, Cassidy Horner, Meghan Luebbert, and McKenzie Marshall. Kate Santos picked up the CCC's Gold Glove awards at catcher. Luebbert was also selected as the CCC Newcomer of the Year.
Concordia University is a private Lutheran university located in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1905 as a University-preparatory school, the institution added college classes in 1950 and the high school was split-off in 1977. Concordia is one of 10 universities founded by the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, and the only LCMS university in Oregon.
Concordia and St. Thomas (FL) meet for the first time in program history. St. Thomas (27-25) is making its first National Championship Opening Round appearance after winning The Sun Conference Tournament Championship.
The Bobcats are fourth overall in the nation in caught stealing per game (.558) and total caught stealing (29), and are ranked 10th in total stolen bases (115). Jeff Norman is in his 11th year as head coach and graduated from Miami-Dade College.
St. Thomas boasted two All-Sun Conference selections including Danielle Borrelli and Christina Horton, while Jessica Matias was named Honorable Mention. Matias ranks sixth in total stolen bases (42) and seventh in stolen bases per game (.808).
St. Thomas University is a private Roman Catholic university in Miami Gardens, Florida. After Cuba expelled the Augustinians in 1961 several of the American Augustinians came to Miami where they founded Biscayne College. Biscayne College earned university status in 1984 after the addition of 10 Master degree programs and the opening of the School of Law and changed its name to St. Thomas University.
The Opening Round field is comprised of 32 automatic qualifiers and eight at-large berths. Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, regular-season runners-up, tournament champions or tournament runners-up depending on the league. Conferences with 10 or more members earned two automatic qualifiers and conferences with less than 10 landed one auto berth. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll released earlier today.
The 10 Opening Round champions will punch their ticket for the 34th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Ga., from May 23 - 29.
For more information on the 2014 NAIA Softball National Championship, click here.
