Courtesy of Midland Athletics
OKLAHOMA CITY – For the fifth straight season, Midland University has earned a berth into the NAIA Softball National Tournament. This year, the Warriors earned the second bid from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) by winning the conference postseason tournament. They will be competing in the Oklahoma City Bracket along with Texas A&M University-San Antonio, Mount Mercy University, and host-school Oklahoma City University.
The double-elimination tournament begins on Monday, May 15 at Ann Lacy Stadium. The Warriors will play in the opening game of the day, taking on Mount Mercy at 11:00 a.m. (CT). Play will continue into Tuesday with a bracket champion decided on Wednesday. The winning team will advance to the NAIA Softball World Series on May 25-31 in Columbus, Georgia.
ABOUT THE TEAMS
No. 1-seed Oklahoma City (45-9) – The Stars will be looking to defend their national championship from 2022 which was the 11th in program history. They are led by Phil McSpadden who became the all-time winningest softball coach earlier this season. OCU earned an at-large berth this season as the University of Science & Arts won the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament. The Stars were ranked No. 5 in the last NAIA Coaches’ Poll back on May 3.
No. 2-seed Midland (36-12) – The Warriors on the GPAC Postseason Tournament with a sweep over No. 12 Northwestern to earn the conference’s second automatic bid to the nationals. They finished tied for second in the regular season standings and swept their way through the tournament as the No. 3-seed. Midland is making its fifth-straight appearance in the opening round and will be looking to reach the NAIA World Series for the first time since 2011.
No. 3-seed Mount Mercy (32-18) – The Mustangs were the Heart of America Conference Runners-Up this season, reaching the title game against the regular-season champion Central Methodist. Mount Mercy, who is led by Larry Yoder in his 17th season, will be looking to get back to the World Series after reaching the final site in 2021.
No. 4-seed Texas A&M-San Antonio (30-21) – The Jaguars, who are in their third season as a program earned an opening-round berth as the tournament runner-up of the Red River Athletic Conference. TAMU-SA was the regular season runner-up behind Our Lady of the Lake. They are coached by Nicole Dufour who has been with the program since its start in 2021.
