WORLD SERIES BRACKET | OPENING ROUND RESULTS

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon will return to the NAIA Softball World Series as the No. 3 overall seed in the 10-team, double-elimination bracket that was finalized on Friday by the national office.

The Raiders (44-13 overall) will start their run at a fourth national championship against No. 6 seed Cumberlands (Ky.) (40-19) of the Mid-South Conference. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT next Thursday at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga.

Ranked No. 17 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll, the Patriots won their Opening Round as a No. 3-seeded host of the Williamsburg (Ky.) Bracket. They had to win three consecutive elimination games – including back-to-back against top-seeded Keiser (Fla.) in the final round – to do it.

The Raiders' shortest path to another championship is four victories. The SOU-Cumberlands winner will play at 4 p.m. Saturday against No. 2 seed Southeastern (Fla.), No. 7 seed College of Idaho or No. 10 seed British Columbia. The loser will play its first elimination game at 10 a.m. Friday against C of I or UBC.

The Raiders dropped their World Series opener last year and became the first team in the tournament's 44-year history to capture the title with seven straight elimination-game victories. The second team they knocked off during that run was Cumberlands, the bracket's top overall seed, by a 3-0 score.

Thursday's meeting will be the third at a World Series between SOU and Cumberlands. The Raiders also won the first in the 2023 championship semifinal round, 9-1.

Madonna (Mich.) is the top overall seed in the bracket. Madonna, Mobile (Ala.), SOU and Southeastern were the only No. 1 seeds to advance out of Opening Rounds.

A complete preview will be published next week.