Host sites revealed for 2019 NAIA National Championship Opening Round
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the list of 10 host sites for the seventh annual NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. The event will be played May 13–15 and features 10 four-team, double elimination tournaments throughout the country.
The 40 qualifiers and pairings for the Opening Rounds will be announced Tuesday, May 7 at 4 p.m. EDT on the NAIA Facebook page. The opening round playing format can be found here.
The hosts include Columbia (Mo.); Dodge City Sports Commission and Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference; Evangel University (Mo.); Georgia Gwinnett (Ga.); Lindsey Wilson (Ky.); Oklahoma City; Southern Oregon; Mobile (Ala.); William Carey (Miss.); Indiana Wesleyan. Overall, eight schools that are a part of hosting are guaranteed a berth in the 40-team field of the National Championship Opening Round, Evangel University must finish the regular season a .600 winning percentage to secure a berth in the 2019 Opening Round.
Seven of this year’s hosts are returning to host for the second-straight year. Of those institutions, Lindsey Wilson and Oklahoma City will each be hosting for the seventh-straight time since the NAIA Opening Round Championship format began in 2013. William Carey is hosting for the fifth time in the last six events.
Evangel University & Springfield Sport commission are the newcomers this year 2019 marking their first-time hosting this event, and will also host the 2019 NAIA Softball World Series May 23-29.
Last year, only four of the 10 Opening Round hosts won their bracket and represented their school at the NAIA Softball World Series.
The champion of each Opening Round will advance to play in the 39th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Springfield, Mo., that runs May 23–29. The World Series is a 10-team double elimination tournament held at Killian Sports Complex with the championship and if-necessary games taking place on Wednesday, May 29. The World Series bracket will be announced on Wednesday, May 15.
The Opening Round site selection process takes into account: geography, facilities, student-athlete experience, current rating of the team and host qualification. In the event that a host bid is directly tied to an institution that school is guaranteed at least an at-large berth into the field in order to host.
For the complete Opening Round schedule, click here.
For more championship information, click here.
– Courtesy of NAIA