By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 40-team field for the 2015 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. The event will take place from May 11 - 13 at 10 different locations. The format is a double-elimination, four-team tournament. For more information on the 10 host sites, click here.

The official pairings for the opening round will be announced with a video bracket show today at 7 p.m. CDT. Click here to access the show.

The 40-team field is comprised of 31 automatic qualifiers, four Opening Round host berths and five at-large berths. The 19 conferences, including the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.), will receive one berth per six teams and two berths per ten teams. In addition, two Unaffiliated groups will receive two berths each.

Overall, there are 21 repeat qualifiers from the 2014 National Championship Opening Round.

Fourteen programs punched their first-ever ticket to the opening round: Avila (Mo.), Campbellsville (Ky.), Cardinal Stritch (Wis.), Doane (Neb.), Georgia Gwinnett, Indiana Wesleyan, Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.), Madonna (Mich.), Mobile (Ala.), Rio Grande (Ohio), Science & Arts (Okla.), Southeastern (Fla.), St. Francis (Ill.) and Tennessee Wesleyan.

Defending national champion Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) is one of 15 teams to appear in all three opening round events, since the format began in 2013. The Warhawks are searching for their third-straight opening round championship and will host the Auburn Montgomery bracket from the AUM Softball Complex.

Oklahoma City leads all qualifiers with 52 wins on the year. The Stars have averaged nearly 53 victories in each the past three seasons. Concordia (Calif.) is next with a 49-6 season mark.

Last year, seven-of-10 opening round hosts won their respective opening round tournaments. Overall, the hosts have won 11-of-20 all-time Opening Rounds. Oklahoma City is the only program to host and win each of the past two Opening Round tournaments – the Stars are 6-1 overall. Auburn Montgomery and Reinhardt (Ga.) join Oklahoma City as two-time Opening Round champions – both institutions won it all as a visitor in 2013.

Auburn Montgomery is the only team to appear in multiple Opening Rounds and hold an undefeated record (5-0). Leading the pack with the most Opening Round wins, Belhaven (Miss.), Oklahoma City, Reinhardt and former member Spring Hill (Ala.) have all won six games each.

Three of the last four national champions will be participating in the 2015 opening round: Auburn Montgomery (2014), Concordia (Calif.) (2013) and Oregon Tech (2011). Mobile (Ala.) (1) and Oklahoma City (8) join those three as the returning teams with at least one World Series title.

Since the opening round format began, hosts have posted a 49-22 record, including a 26-8 mark in 2014. Overall, the No. 1 seeds have gone 54-16.

The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups with four qualifiers in the National Championship field. The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, Sooner Athletic Conference and the Unaffiliated Group (Cascade/Frontier) each landed a trio of programs.

The 2014 Opening Round marks the third year of this format with 40 teams at 10 different sites.

The 10 Opening Round champions will punch their ticket for the 35th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Sioux City, Iowa on the Morningside College campus from May 22 - 28. Those programs will participate in a double-elimination format on one championship field. Last year, Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) defeated William Carey (Miss.), 10-6, to record its first-ever softball championship.

For more information on the 2015 NAIA Softball National Championship, click here.

2015 Softball National Championship Opening Round Qualifiers

^ as submitted by school in DakStats
* Opening Round appearances, including 2015 event
OR = Opening Round