2023 NAIA softball tournament

2023 NAIA softball tournament
Teams	40
Format	double-elimination
Finals site	South Commons Softball Complex Columbus, GA
Champions	Southern Oregon (3rd title)
Runner-up	Oregon Tech
Winning coach	Jessica Pistole
MVP	Cayla Williams (Southern Oregon)
Television	NAIA Network, ESPN3
	← 2022 ; NAIA Softball Championship ; 2024 →;

Last updated August 28, 2025

The 2023 NAIA softball tournament was the 42nd edition of the NAIA softball championship.The 40-team tournament began on May 15 with Opening Round games at ten different sites and concluded with the 2023 NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Georgia on May 25-31.

Format

A total of 40 teams entered the tournament, with 32 receiving an automatic bid by either winning their conference's tournament, finishing as their conference tournament runner-up, or by finishing in first place in their conference. The remaining 8 bids were issued at large, with selections extended by the NAIA Selection Committee.

Bids

Conferences with 10 or more members received two automatic berths, while conferences with less than 10 received one.^[1] All conferences awarded a bid to their tournament champion.

Automatic


School	Conference	Qualifying Method	Record	Last Opening Round Appearance
Avila	KCAC	Tournament Champion	34-19	2019
Campellsville	Mid-South	Tournament Runner-Up	31-15-2	2022
Central Methodist	Heart	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	38-10	2022
Coastal Georgia	The Sun	Tournament Champion	40-10	2022
College of Idaho	Cascade	Tournament Runner-Up	46-8	2022
Columbia (MO)	American Midwest	Tournament Champion	24-17	2022
Cottey	American Midwest	Regular-Season Champion	34-19	2022
Cumberlands	Mid-South	Tournament Champion	44-3-1	2017
Embry-Riddle	Cal-Pac	Tournament Champion	37-14	2022
Georgia Gwinnett	Continental	Tournament Champion	40-10	2022
Indiana Southeast	River States	Regular-Season Champion	33-17	2021
Indiana Tech	Wolverine-Hoosier	Regular-Season Champion	40-10	1st
Madonna	Wolverine-Hoosier	Tournament Champion	36-12	2022
Marian	Crossroads League	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	45-6	2022
Middle Georgia State	SSAC	Tournament Champion	46-12	1st
Midland	GPAC	Tournament Champion	36-12	2022
Mount Mercy	Heart	Tournament Runner-Up	32-18	2021
Northwestern (IA)	GPAC	Regular-Season Champion	46-8	2018
Oregon Tech	Cascade	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	47-7	2022
Ottawa (KS)	KCAC	Regular-Season Champion	41-9	2022
Our Lady of the Lake	Red River	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	47-5	2022
Reinhardt	Appalachian	Regular-Season Champion	35-11	2021
St. Mary-of-the-Woods	River States	Tournament Champion	36-14	2022
St. Xavier	Chicagoland	Tournament Champion	34-12	2022
Science and Arts	Sooner	Tournament Champion	39-13	2022
St. Francis (IL)	Chicagoland	Regular-Season Champion	32-9	2018
Taylor	Crossroads League	Tournament Runner-Up	26-30	2022
Tennessee Wesleyan	Appalachian	Tournament Champion	27-15	2022
Texas A&M San Antonio	Red River	Tournament Runner-Up	30-21	1st
USC Beaufort (SC)	Continental	Tournament Runner-Up	14-43	2019
Valley City State	North Star	Tournament Champion	28-21	2022
Vanguard	Golden State	Tournament Champion	26-28	2019

At-large


School	Conference	Record	Last Opening Round Appearance
Baker	Heart	44-9	2019
Freed-Hardeman	Mid-South	25-13	2022
Hope International	Golden State	39-14	2021
Indiana Wesleyan	Crossroads League	40-13	2022
Mobile	SSAC	38-13	2022
Oklahoma City	Sooner	45-9	2022
Southeastern	The Sun	33-16	2022
Southern Oregon	Cascade	42-11	2022

By conference


Conference	Total	Schools
Cascade	3	College of Idaho, Oregon Tech, Southern Oregon
Crossroads League	3	Indiana Wesleyan, Marian, Taylor
Heart	3	Baker, Central Methodist, Mount Mercy
Mid-South	3	Campellsville, Cumberlands, Freed-Hardeman
American Midwest	2	Columbia, Cottey
Appalachian	2	Reinhardt, Tennessee Wesleyan
Chicagoland	2	St. Francis, St. Xavier
Continental	2	Georgia Gwinnett, USC Beaufort
Golden State	2	Hope International, Vanguard
GPAC	2	Midland, Northwestern
KCAC	2	Avila, Ottawa
Red River	2	Our Lady of the Lake, Texas A&M San Antonio
River States	2	Indiana Southeast, St. Mary-of-the-Woods
Sooner	2	Oklahoma City, Science & Arts
SSAC	2	Middle Georgia State, Mobile
The Sun	2	Coastal Georgia, Southeastern
Wolverine-Hoosier	2	Indiana Tech, Madonna
Cal-Pac	1	Embry-Riddle
North Star	1	Valley City State

Opening Round

The Opening Round brackets were held May 15-17.^[2]

Ashland Bracket (Ashland, OR)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Southern Oregon	4

4	Vanguard	8
			Vanguard	0
Winner's bracket
			Reinhardt (8 inn.)	1
3	Reinhardt	6

2	Southeastern	4
					Reinhardt	4	0
University Field (Southern Oregon)
					Southern Oregon	8	11 (5 inn.)
Southeastern		0

Southern Oregon		2
			Southern Oregon	10
Loser's bracket
			Vanguard	4

Baldwin City Bracket (Baldwin City, KS)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	College of Idaho	4

4	Valley City State	1
			College of Idaho	1
Winner's bracket
			Baker	5
3	Indiana Southeast	0

2	Baker	3
					Baker	2	5
Cavaness Field (Baker)
					College of Idaho	4	3
Indiana Southeast		12

Valley City State		9
			College of Idaho	8
Loser's bracket
			Indiana Southeast	2

Chickasha Bracket (Chickasha, OK)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Science & Arts	4

4	Avila	0
			Science & Arts (9 inn.)	3
Winner's bracket
			Mobile	2
3	Cottey	0

2	Mobile	2
					Science & Arts	1
Bill Smith Ballpark (Science & Arts)
					Mobile	0
Cottey		0

Avila		4
			Mobile	6
Loser's bracket
			Avila	2

Henderson Bracket (Henderson, TN)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Central Methodist	2

4	St. Francis	1
			Central Methodist (6 inn.)	9
Winner's bracket
			Freed-Hardeman	1
3	Freed-Hardeman	5

2	Ottawa	4
					Central Methodist (10 inn.)	6
Tucker Field (Freed-Hardeman)
					Freed-Hardeman	4
St. Francis		1

Ottawa		4
			Freed-Hardeman	2
Loser's bracket
			Ottawa	0

Indianapolis Bracket (Indianapolis, IN)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Marian	3

4	Tennessee Wesleyan	0
			Marian	2
Winner's bracket
			Columbia	4
3	Columbia	5

2	Middle Georgia State	0
					Columbia	0	1
Marian Softball Diamond (Marian)
					Marian	1	8
Tennessee Wesleyan		0

Middle Georgia State		5
			Marian	5
Loser's bracket
			Middle Georgia State	0

Klamath Falls Bracket (Klamath Falls, OR)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Oregon Tech	4

4	St. Xavier	3
			Oregon Tech (6 inn.)	10
Winner's bracket
			Northwestern	2
3	Embry-Riddle	5

2	Northwestern	6
					Oregon Tech	0	5
Stillwell Stadium (Oregon Tech)
					St. Xavier	3	2
St. Xavier		6

Embry-Riddle		5
			Northwestern	2
Loser's bracket
			St. Xavier (6 inn.)	10

Lawrenceville Bracket (Lawrenceville, GA)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Georgia Gwinnett	4

4	St. Mary-of-the-Woods	1
			Georgia Gwinnett	7
Winner's bracket
			Indiana Tech	1
3	Indiana Tech (8 inn.)	2

2	Coastal Georgia	1
					Georgia Gwinnett (11 inn.)	6
Grizzly Softball Complex (Georgia Gwinnett)
					Coastal Georgia	5
St. Mary-of-the-Woods		4

Coastal Georgia		8
			Indiana Tech	0
Loser's bracket
			Coastal Georgia	3

Oklahoma City Bracket (Oklahoma City, OK)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Oklahoma City (5 inn.)	11

4	Texas A&M-San Antonio	2
			Oklahoma City	1
Winner's bracket
			Midland	2
3	Mount Mercy	1

2	Midland (9 inn.)	2
					Midland	1	2
Yukon High School/Ann Lacy Stadium (Oklahoma City)
					Oklahoma City	3	1
Texas A&M-San Antonio		0

Mount Mercy (12 inn.)		1
			Oklahoma City	5
Loser's bracket
			Mount Mercy	2

San Antonio Bracket (San Antonio, TX)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Our Lady of the Lake	9

4	Taylor	1
			Our Lady of the Lake	0
Winner's bracket
			Hope International	1
3	Campellsville	0

2	Hope International	1
					Hope International	0	0
St. Mary's University Softball Stadium (Our Lady of the Lake)
					Our Lady of the Lake	2	2
Taylor		6

Campbellsville		2
			Our Lady of the Lake	10
Loser's bracket
			Taylor	3

Williamsburg Bracket (Williamsburg, KY)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Cumberlands (8 inn.)	3

4	USC Beaufort (SC)	2
			Cumberlands	4
Winner's bracket
			Madonna	2
3	Madonna	2

2	Indiana Wesleyan	0
					Cumberlands (10 inn.)	4
UC Softball Complex (Cumberlands)
					Madonna	1
USC Beaufort (SC)		8

Indiana Wesleyan		4
			Madonna (5 inn.)	11
Loser's bracket
			USC Beaufort (SC)	1

NAIA Softball World Series

The 42nd annual NAIA Softball World Series was held May 25-31 at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Georgia.

Participants^[3]^[4]^[5]


School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head Coach	World Series Appearances (including 2023)	World Series Record (excluding 2023)
Baker	Heart	47-10 (21-5)	Dana Goss	1 (2023)	0-0
Central Methodist	Heart	41-10 (21-5)	Pat Reardon	4 (2023, 2015, 2012, 1981)	3-6
Cumberlands	Mid-South	47-3-1 (21-0)	Bailey Dillender	1 (2023)	0-0
Georgia Gwinnett	Continental	43-10 (7-1)	Kat Ihlenburg	3 (2023, 2019, 2018)	4-4
Marian	Crossroads League	49-7 (31-5)	Scott Flemming	6 (2023, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2003)	3-10
Midland	GPAC	39-13 (16-6)	Beth Singleton	4 (2023, 2011, 2010, 2003)	2-7
Oregon Tech	Cascade	50-8 (29-1)	Greg Stewart	8 (2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2015, 2012, 2011, 1997)	18-12
Our Lady of the Lake	Red River	51-6 (28-0)	Bruce Lenington	1 (2023)	0-0
Science & Arts	Sooner	42-13 (25-7)	Jaydn Wallis	7 (2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2006, 2005, 2004)	16-12
Southern Oregon	Cascade	46-12 (25-5)	Jessica Pistole	5 (2023, 2021, 2019 2018, 2017)	16-6

Bracket^[3]


First Round			First Round			Quarterfinals		Semifinals				National Championship



			8	Central Methodist	1

8	Central Methodist	2	1	Oregon Tech	4
						Oregon Tech	0
9	Baker	0
						Southern Oregon	10
			4	Southern Oregon	5

			5	Georgia Gwinnett	1
								Southern Oregon (5 inn.)	9

								Cumberlands	1
			7	Marian	6

7	Marian	2	2	Our Lady of the Lake	3
						Cumberlands	9
10	Midland	0
						Marian	6
			3	Cumberlands	2

			6	Science & Arts	1							Southern Oregon (5 inn.)	11

												Oregon Tech	0

First Round			Second Round			Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Semifinals



						Marian	6

			Central Methodist		7	Georgia Gwinnett	0			Cumberlands	0

Baker		2	Georgia Gwinnett		9			Marian	5	Oregon Tech	3

Georgia Gwinnett		6						Oregon Tech	8

						Oregon Tech	6

			Our Lady of the Lake		5	Midland	0

Midland (11 inn.)		3	Midland		6

Science & Arts		2

Game results^[4]


Date	Game	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Winning pitcher	Losing pitcher	Save	Notes
May 25	Game 1	Marian	2-0	Midland	Sydney Wilson (23-3)	Aliyah Rincon (23-7)	-	-
	Game 2	Central Methodist	2-0 (8 inn.)	Baker	Jordyn Ball (19-3)	Kira Baker (24-2)	-	-
	Game 3	Southern Oregon	5-1	Georgia Gwinnett	Cayla Williams (21-5)	Annalise Wood (23-3)	-	-
	Game 4	Cumberlands	2-1	Science & Arts	Talli Burgess (20-0)	Sophie Williams (24-7)	-	-
May 26	Game 5	Georgia Gwinnett	6-2	Baker	Kailyn Berry (9-4)	Kira Baker 924-3)	-	Baker eliminated
	Game 6	Midland	3-2 (11 inn.)	Science & Arts	Aliyah Rincon (24-7)	Sophie Williams (24-8)	-	Science & Arts eliminated
	Game 7	Oregon Tech	4-1	Central Methodist	Kacie Schmidt (27-1)	Haley Cotter (7-1)	-	-
	Game 8	Marian	6-3	Our Lady of the Lake	Olivia Stunkel (25-3)	Cassandra Valdez (28-5)	Sydney Wilson (2)	-
May 27	Game 9	Georgia Gwinnett	9-7	Central Methodist	Alexa Good (12-4)	Haley Cotter (7-2)	Annalise Wood (4)	Central Methodist eliminated
	Game 10	Midland	6-5	Our Lady of the Lake	Aliyah Rincon (25-7)	Angela Ramirez (17-2)	-	Our Lady of the Lake eliminated
	Game 11	Southern Oregon	10-0 (6 inn.)	Oregon Tech	Cayla Williams (22-5)	McKenzie Staub (23-7)	-	-
	Game 12	Cumberlands	9-6	Marian	Talli Burgess (21-0)	Olivia Stunkel (25-4)	Morgan Radford (1)	-
May 29	Game 13	Marian	6-0	Georgia Gwinnett	Sydney Wilson (24-3)	Kailyn Berry (9-5)	-	Georgia Gwinnett eliminated
	Game 14	Oregon Tech	6-0	Midland	Kacie Schmidt (28-1)	Aliyah Rincon (25-8)	-	Midland eliminated
	Game 15	Southern Oregon	9-1 (5 inn.)	Cumberlands	Cayla Williams (23-5)	Talli Burgess (21-1)	-	-
May 30	Game 16	Oregon Tech	8-5	Marian	McKenzie Staub (24-7)	Olivia Stunkel (25-6)	-	Marian eliminated
May 30	Game 17	Oregon Tech	3-0	Cumberlands	Kacie Schmidt (29-1)	Morgan Radford (15-2)	-	Cumberlands eliminated
May 31	Game 18	Southern Oregon	11-0 (5 inn.)	Oregon Tech	Cayla Williams (24-5)	Kacie Schmidt (29-2)	-	Southern Oregon wins NAIA Softball World Series

Championship game^[4]^[6]

May 31, 2023 - 5:00 p.m. EDT at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Georgia
Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Southern Oregon	5	0	0	0	6	11	13	1
Oregon Tech	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	4
WP: Cayla Williams (24-5) LP: Kacie Schmidt (29-7) Home runs: SOU: Ashton Cathey, Riley Donovan OIT: None Attendance: N/A Time: 1:43 Umpires: HP: Terry Hall, 1B: Antonio Flores, 2B: Brian Soule, 3B: Eric Salgado Boxscore

All-Tournament Team^[7]


Position	Player	School
P	Morgan Radford	Cumberlands
	Aliyah Rincon	Midland
	Sydney Wilson	Marian
P/1B	Cayla Williams (MVP)	Southern Oregon
2B	Deja Acosta	Southern Oregon
2B	Carly Oliver	Cumberlands
SS	Savannah Harweger	Marian
	Kaila Mick	Oregon Tech
	Madison White	Central Methodist
INF	Lindzie Owen	Georgia Gwinnett
OF	Maggie Buckholz	Oregon Tech
	Makenzie Keatts	Cumberlands
	Sarah Kerling	Southern Oregon
	Abby Madere	Marian
C	Riley Donovan	Southern Oregon

Media coverage

Live-streaming

The Opening Round live streams were produced by the host schools. World Series games from May 25-29 were streamed on the NAIA Network with play-by-play by Jack Kreuzer.

Television

The semifinals and national championship were broadcast on ESPN3, with Kreuzer providing play-by-play. Columbus State University softball coach Brad Huskisson served as the analyst.

References

↑ "Softball National Championship Qualifiers Revealed". NAIA. 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2023 NAIA Softball Opening Round Schedule | Results". NAIA. 2023-05-17. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
1 2 "NAIA" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
1 2 3 "2023 NAIA World Series Schedule | Results". NAIA Stats. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
↑ "NAIA" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
↑ "Southern Oregon vs. Oregon Tech - Box Score - 5/31/2023". NAIA Stats. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
↑ "Southern Oregon Blasts Way to Red Banner". NAIA. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Softball National Championship Qualifiers Revealed". NAIA. 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2023 NAIA Softball Opening Round Schedule | Results". NAIA. 2023-05-17. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

[:1-3] 1 2 "NAIA" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

[:2-4] 1 2 3 "2023 NAIA World Series Schedule | Results". NAIA Stats. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

[5] "NAIA" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

[6] "Southern Oregon vs. Oregon Tech - Box Score - 5/31/2023". NAIA Stats. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

[7] "Southern Oregon Blasts Way to Red Banner". NAIA. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-06-01.

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2023 NAIA softball tournament

Contents

Format

Bids

Automatic

At-large

By conference

Opening Round

Ashland Bracket (Ashland, OR) [2]

Baldwin City Bracket (Baldwin City, KS) [2]

Chickasha Bracket (Chickasha, OK) [2]

Henderson Bracket (Henderson, TN) [2]

Indianapolis Bracket (Indianapolis, IN) [2]

Klamath Falls Bracket (Klamath Falls, OR) [2]

Lawrenceville Bracket (Lawrenceville, GA) [2]

Oklahoma City Bracket (Oklahoma City, OK) [2]

San Antonio Bracket (San Antonio, TX) [2]

Williamsburg Bracket (Williamsburg, KY) [2]