May 18, 2010

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - (Press Book PDF) The 30th Annual NAIA Softball National Championship will open action on Thursday, as thirty-two teams will travel to Wilson Morgan Softball Complex in Decatur, Ala. Three days of pool-play action will cut the field down to eight teams, who will then battle through a double-elimination bracket for the right to take home the 2010 National Championship. Decatur will welcome the Championship for the 11th consecutive year and 13th year overall in the event’s 30-year history.

Eight pools comprised of four teams each will hit the field for the first three days of action. Playing out of Pool A, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) is set to face Holy Names (Calif.), and Pool B’s Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) will take on Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.), with the first pitch thrown Thursday at 9 a.m. CDT. Four fields will be utilized during the event.

Each of the eight respective pool winners will then advance to double-elimination play starting May 24 and the 2010 National Champion will be crowned May 26.

Twenty-six teams earned a ticket to Decatur by winning its conference’s tournament. Of those teams, two league’s secured a pair of bids, with the tournament runner-up, Midland Lutheran (Neb.) (29-23) of the Great Plains Athletic Conference and Association of Independent Institutions member Simon Fraser (B.C.) (21-14), capturing a spot in the championship field. Six teams were awarded an at-large bid using the final Top-25 poll released on May 4.

Eighteen of the 32 teams in this year’s championship field made the trip last year, while six teams are playing in their first-ever NAIA Softball National Championship. Making their inaugural appearance is Belhaven (Miss.) (50-8), California State-San Marcos (38-14), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (45-13), MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (45-6), Minot State (N.D.) (32-13) and Union (Ky.) (20-16).

Veteran teams will also trek to Decatur looking to build on both recent and past success. Oklahoma City will be playing for a record 24th time overall and 18th consecutive season. The eight-time National Champion Stars own the best mark in the event with a 94-33 all-time record and are 8-3 in national title games. Amanda Howard, senior outfielder and the 2009 NAIA Player of the Year, will look to lead the Stars back to the title for the first time since 2007.

In all, there are seven programs out of 173 in the event’s 30-year history that have qualified for the National Championship 10-or more times, four of which will be in action in Decatur: Oklahoma City, Columbia (Mo.) (15), Simon Fraser (14) and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (10).

California Baptist will put its 58-2 record on the line to defend its title. The two blemishes on the Lancers record came at the hands of teams also Decatur-bound, Concordia (Calif.) (41-18) and California State-San Marcos. Senior shortstop and reigning NAIA Most Valuable Player Ashley Boyd, along with Tory Ferreira, sophomore hurler and last year’s NAIA Pitcher of the Year, will look to push their team back to the top. Head coach Mike Smith was also named NAIA Coach of the Year last season.

Joining the Stars and Lancers as previous national champs are three-time champ Simon Fraser (2005, 2003, 1999) and 2008 titlist Lubbock Christian (Texas).

Although Point Loma Nazarene (28-14) has not won a crown, the Sea Lions are the only other team in this year’s championship field that has previously played in the decisive title game. In both championship game appearances, Point Loma Nazarene’s defeater was Oklahoma City, falling 7-2 in 2007 and 2-1 in eight innings in 2002.

Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament champion Mount Mercy (Iowa) will play in its fourth National Championship, but first since 1990. The Mustangs are the only team to previously play in the event and not make an appearance during the 2000s and their 20-year drought is the longest of the team’s to appear in at least one previous championship.

Five clubs have secured 50-or more wins this season, led by California Baptist’s 58. In contrast, Union has posted the fewest with 20. Eleven teams have only suffered defeat 10-or fewer times and Notre Dame (Ohio) enters with the most losses at 25-24.

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