Softball Will Travel to Iowa for NAIA Opening Round
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Northwestern Ohio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
|
Baker (KS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 4 | 0 |
KANSAS CITY, MO - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has released the 48-team field and groupings for the 2025 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Rounds. Ten host sites will field four or five team pods in a double-elimination format beginning May 12 and concluding May 15. The winner of each opening round bracket will earn a spot in the 2025 NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Georgia on May 22-28. This year's field consists of 29 automatic qualifiers, awarded to conference regular season and tournament champions or conference tournament runners-up, as well as 19 at-large selections.
Northwestern Ohio earned an automatic bid with the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament Championship defeating regular season champion No. 9 Madonna 9-3 in the final. The Racers set the program's single season wins record at 35-16 this year and will head west to the Sioux Center Bracket, hosted by Northwestern College, as the five-seed. Host No. 10 Northwestern will play as the top seed in the bracket with No. 13 Marian as the two-seed, (RV) Friends as the three-seed, and Baker as the four-seed.
UNOH will play the first game in Sioux Center, Iowa on Monday, May 12 with a first-ever meeting against Baker at 1:00 PM EST followed by Marian and Friends at 3:30 PM EST. The winner of UNOH/Baker will advance to face Northwestern in game three of the day at 6:00 PM EST. The losers of the first two games will open day two followed by the winners of game two and game three. The third game on Tuesday will be an elimination game between the winner of the first game of the day and the loser of game three from Monday.
All opening round games at Northwestern can be watched live here.
Team Resumes
#10 Northwestern Red Raiders (46-11)
Automatic Qualifier: Great Plains Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 4-5
Vs. Opening Round Qualifiers: 11-7
4th Appearance
Opening Round Record: 4-6
Opening Round Titles: 0
Automatic Qualifier: Crossroads League Co-Regular Season & Tournament Champion
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 5-2
Vs. Opening Round Qualifiers: 7-2
11th Appearance
Opening Round Record: 20-13
Opening Round Titles: 4
Automatic Qualifier: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 3-5
Vs. Opening Round Qualifiers: 2-7
7th Appearance
Opening Round Record: 2-12
Opening Round Titles: 0
At-Large Qualifier: Heart of America Athletic Conference
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 2-7
Vs. Opening Round Qualifiers: 7-9
5th Appearance
Opening Round Record: 7-7
Opening Round Titles: 1
Northwestern Ohio Racers (35-16)
Automatic Qualifier: Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 2-5
Vs. Opening Round Qualifiers: 4-9
2nd Appearance
Opening Round Record: 1-2
Opening Round Titles: 0
