KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Opening Round Schedule] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and pairings for the 2024 NAIA Softball National Championship. The 48-team field will kick things off in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, at 10 campus sites around the nation on May 13-16.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference saw four teams earn spots in the national tournament. No. 5-ranked Oregon Tech earned the CCC’s first automatic bid by winning the regular-season title while No. 10-ranked Eastern Oregon University received the second automatic qualifier after winning the CCC tournament championship. No. 15-ranked College of Idaho and No. 17-ranked Southern Oregon University grabbed at-large bids to round out the conference qualifiers.
The 2024 NAIA National Championship Opening Round Winners will meet up in Columbus, Ga., at the NAIA Softball World Series. The final site takes place at the South Commons Softball Complex from May 23-29, 2024, hosted by Columbus, Ga. Sports Council.
This year’s championship field includes 32 automatic qualifiers and 16 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title, or regular-season championship or finished runner-up at the conference tournament or regular season as determined by each conference qualification plan. The at-large bids were determined by the NAIA Softball National Selection Committee. This committee consists of one representative from each Area Rating Committee (ARC), a representative from the National Administrative Council, an officer of the NAIA Softball Coaches Association, and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
All championship opening round games will be video-streamed by the host.
Hudl TV will be the official home of NAIA Softball World Series streaming. It will broadcast all games from Columbus, Georgia through Game 15 on Monday. Single-day and all-championship passes can be purchased HERE. Games on Tuesday and Wednesday will be streamed exclusively on ESPN3 and are not included in packages on Hudl TV.
Find the full list of Qualifiers HERE.