NAIA Championship Opening Round | Ashland Bracket
Laurel Park | Ashland, Ore. | May 11-14
TICKETS | LIVE STREAMS | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

MONDAY, MAY 11
G1 | 11 a.m. – (4) Dordt (Iowa) vs. (5) Ottawa (Ariz.)
G2 | 1:30 p.m. – (2) Texas A&M Texarkana vs. (3) Saint Francis (Ind.)
G3 | 4 p.m. – (1) Southern Oregon vs. G1 Winner

TUESDAY, MAY 12
G4 | 11 a.m. – G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser (loser eliminated)
G5 | 1:30 p.m. – G2 Winner vs. G3 Winner
G6 | 4 p.m. – G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner (loser eliminated)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
G7 | 11 a.m. – G5 Loser vs. G6 Winner (loser eliminated)
G8 | 1:30 p.m. – G5 Winner vs. G7 Winner (final round)

THURSDAY, MAY 14
G9 | 11 a.m. – G8 Rematch If necessary

ASHLAND – The 48-team NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round field was announced and the Ashland Bracket set on Wednesday by the national office.

Southern Oregon, making its 10th consecutive national postseason appearance, is a No. 1 seed once again in its five-team, double-elimination bracket, which will play out at Laurel Park next Monday through Thursday. The defending-champion Raiders (41-13 overall) have won Opening Round titles and advanced to the NAIA World Series seven times in the last eight years.

They'll welcome No. 2 seed Texas A&M Texarkana (37-14), No. 3 seed Saint Francis (Ind.) (36-11), No. 4 seed Dordt (Iowa) (39-12), and No. 5 seed Ottawa (Ariz.) (33-16) to their home field. Ottawa is the only one of those teams with which SOU has any prior history, and Dordt is the only one that has reached a World Series, doing so in 2001.

The Raiders will play their first game at 4 p.m. Monday against the winner of the early matchup between Dordt and Ottawa. A win would put them in Tuesday's 1:30 p.m. game for a spot in Wednesday's final round; a loss would put them in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Thursday's game will only be played if necessary.

SOU was ranked No. 6 before sweeping through last weekend's Cascade Conference Tournament and stretching its winning streak to 12 games. The last time the Raiders failed to get through the Opening Round was 2022, and they've tacked on their third and fourth World Series championships since then.

Texarkana was No. 19 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll and finished third in the Red River Athletic Conference with a 21-5 record. Saint Francis won the Crossroads League Tournament and Ottawa claimed the Great Southwest Athletic Conference Tournament after both placed second in the regular season. Dordt was the co-champion in the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season.

Four more CCC teams are part of the Opening Round field: Oregon Tech as a No. 1 seed, Eastern Oregon as a No. 2 seed, College of Idaho as a No. 3 seed, and British Columbia as a No. 4 seed.

A complete bracket preview will be published later this week.