May 17, 2008

DECATUR, Ala. - St. Gregory's (Okla.) and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) from Pool B advanced to the to the eight-team double elimination bracket at the 28th Annual NAIA Softball National Championship.

St. Gregory's finished the pool play undefeated with two more wins on Saturday including a 3-2 win over Point Loma Nazarene.  The Cavaliers also defeated William Carey (Miss.), 2-0, to finish 4-0.  After pitching two no-hitters on Friday, Sharon Bell continued her dominance on the mound and struck out 18 PLNU batters for the victory.  She also started against William Carey and pitched six hitless innings.  Bell finished the pool play with 50 strikeouts in 27 innings and allowed just three hits.

Point Loma Nazarene advanced to the bracket play with 3-1 record.  After dropping the first game to SGU, the Sea Lions bounced back to defeat Warner Southern (Fla.), 19-4 in five innings.  Paige Powell went 5-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI.  Amanda Addie also had five hits in five at bats and scored all five times. 

William Carey (Miss.) and Dana (Neb.) split their two games on Saturday to finish 2-2 and 1-3 respectively.  WCU fell to St. Gregory's, 2-0, but bounced back to defeat Dana, 2-1.  Brittany Ladner pitched six innings for the win while Brittany Fuller pitched the seventh for the save.

Dana knocked off Warner Southern 6-5 before losing to William Carey.

Bracket play will start on Monday, May 19 and will end with the championship game on Wednesday, May 21.  Point Loma Nazarene will face Mobile (Ala.) at 10 a.m. while St. Gregory's will take on Simon Fraser (B.C.) at 12:30 p.m.

Pool B Standings
St. Gregory's (Okla.): 4-0
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.): 3-1

William Carey (Miss.): 2-2

Dana (Neb.): 1-3

Warner Southern (Fla.): 0-4