Southern Oregon University announces Raiders to open NAIA World Series against Georgia Gwinnett
WORLD SERIES BRACKET
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon will enter the NAIA Softball World Series as the No. 4 seed and open at 1 p.m. Pacific Time on May 25 with a quarterfinal game against No. 5 seed Georgia Gwinnett.
The 10-team, double-elimination tournament is scheduled to play out over the course of six days at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Georgia, the same place SOU celebrated its second national championship in 2021. The Raiders (46-12 overall) and Georgia Gwinnett (43-10) were at the final sites together in 2018 and '19 but have never previously matched up.
The Grizzlies landed at No. 8 in the final NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll and went unscathed through their Opening Round games as hosts of the Lawrenceville Bracket. They boast one of the top arms in the country in sophomore All-American Annalise Wood, who stands at 23-2 with a miniscule 0.61 ERA and 285 strikeouts, compared to just nine walks, over 183 2/3 innings pitched.
The SOU-GGC winner will advance to play a semifinal at 1 p.m. on May 27 against the winner of a game between No. 1 seed Oregon Tech and either No. 8 seed Central Methodist (Mo.) or No. 9 seed Baker (Kan.).
The loser will have to win seven consecutive games to claim the title, starting at 7 a.m. on May 26 against the Central Methodist-Baker loser.
Eight of 10 top seeds in the Opening Round moved on to the World Series, a sharp contrast from the Raiders' last appearance in 2021 when they and Oregon Tech were the only top seeds present. Central Methodist is the only team in the field that was not ranked in the final Top 25 poll; all the others were among the top-15.
The Raiders, who won four consecutive elimination games in the Ashland Bracket to get out of the Opening Round, are in the World Series for the fifth time in program history. They made their first appearance in 2017 and captured their first championship two years later.
A complete tournament preview will be published next week.
Original source can be found here.