SIOUX CENTER, IOWA -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and pairings for the 2024 NAIA Softball National Championship. The NAIA Opening Rounds will feature an expanded field of 48 teams. There will be two opening round sites that will feature four teams and eight which will be five team brackets, each played in double elimination format. The winner of each will advance to the NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Ga., beginning on May 23, 2024. The No. 11 ranked Crusaders will make their sixth appearance in the National Tournament via an automatic bid from winning the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Regular Season Championship. Madonna secured a two-seed in the Sioux Center bracket which is hosted by the No. 9 ranked Raiders of Northwestern College (Iowa) who will be the one-seed in the bracket. All five teams in the bracket are receiving-votes or better in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

The Crusaders will head into the NAIA Opening Round with an overall record of 48-3 and riding a 27-game win streak, this is the best record since the Crusaders went 53-11 in 2009. The Crusaders will be led by three-time WHAC Pitcher of the Year, Maeson Schlaud. This season, Schlaud has the most wins in the NAIA this season, posting a 31-2 record in 211.2 innings pitched. Her ERA is a 1.06 and currently is the 12th-best in the NAIA. Schlaud has 254 strikeouts on the year as well, and that is the fourth-most in the NAIA this season. Offensively, the Crusaders has nine All-Conference selections, which seven of those made First Team. Of those All-Conference selections, they are led by junior Alissa Gauthier. In 51 games, she is hitting .433, recorded 68 hits, 16 doubles, seven triples, four home runs and 47 RBIs. Sophomore, Jessica Dunkel is right there with Gautheir as those two are the only Crusaders batting above a .400 average. Dunkel this year is hitting .408, recording 60 hits, 13 doubles and 42 RBIs. Possibly the biggest bat for the Crusaders is junior catcher, Mackenzie Ming. Ming set the new record for most home runs hit in a single-season with 10. Ming is hitting .364 with 39 RBIs and has 27 extra base hits. This will be the Crusaders third-straight NAIA Opening Round appearance for third-year head coach Ron Pezzoni.

SCOUTING THE FIELD 

As mentioned earlier, the one-seed will be the host school, Northwestern College (Iowa). This will be the Raiders third appearance in the National Tournament and enter the NAIA Opening Round with a 48-5 overall record. The Raiders are an automatic qualifier for the tournament as they won both the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Regular Season and Tournament titles and were ranked nine in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll. The Raiders are led by two-way player Kameryn Etherington, in the batters box, she is hitting .397, while recording five home runs and 43 RBIs. While leading the Raiders in batting average, home runs and RBIs, Etherington is also Northwestern's number one arm. In the pitching circle, she has a 22-4 record with a 1.07 ERA, she has recorded 131 strikeouts in 150.2 innings pitched. Another name to look out for is Gwen Mikkelsen, the senior is hitting .378 and leads the team in extra base hits with 23. Kate Kralik shares time with Etherington in the pitching circle, the junior has 1.11 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 107.2 innings pitched. The Raiders are led by six-year head coach, Shane Bouman. 

Madonna will first take on the three-seeded Vikings of Grand View University (Iowa) on Monday. The Vikings are making their ninth appearance in the National Tournament as this season the secured an At-Large bid. Coming into the Opening Rounds, the Vikings hold a 33-17 overall record and a 14-10 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Vikings are also led by a two-way player in Jessica Walljasper. She has an .370 batting average with nine home runs, 89 total bases and 35 RBIs. In the pitching circle, she has a 17-7 record with a 2.58 ERA with 138 strikeouts in 151.2 Innings. The Vikings have only thrown three arms all year, with all of them appearing in 24 or more games. Madi Huisman is the Vikings second arm, the senior has a 14-7 record, a 2.16 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 126.1 innings. 

The four-seed in the bracket is the Cougars of Saint Xavier University (Ill.) who is one of the Crusaders' three losses on the season. The Crusaders have played the Cougars three times already this season and have the 2-1 advantage. The Cougars enter the NAIA Opening Round with a 27-12 overall record, they are an automatic qualifier for the tournament as they won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament. The Cougars are led by CCAC Pitcher and Player of the Year in Laila Summers and Alexus Reese. In the circle, Summers has a 19-6 record with a 1.38 ERA with 123 strikeouts in 157.0 innings pitched. As for Reese, the senior is hitting .351 with five home runs, eight doubles and 43 RBIs. The Cougars also have Aubrey Wroble who was named the CCAC Freshman of the Year. In 39 games, Wroble hit .489 with 65 hits and stole 11 bags this season.  

The five-seed in the bracket is the Bruins of Bellevue University (Neb.). The Bruins received an at-large bid after finishing the regular season with a 32-20 overall record and a 19-3 mark in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA). The Bruins won the NSAA regular season title and finished as the NSAA Tournament runners-up. The Bruins are led by junior Katie Cunningham who was named the NSAA Pitcher and Player of the Year. Cunningham in the circle had a 1.78 ERA with 123 stikrouts in 149.2 innings pitched. In the batters box, Cunningham comes into the Opening Round hitting .287 with four home runs and leads the team with 31 RBIs. The Bruins also have Alexa Sidel who is hitting .324 with nine home runs as well as sophomore, Atiana Rodriguez who is hitting .346 on the year with nine doubles, four triples, and 21 RBIs.

FULL SCHEDULE 

Monday, May 13
Game 1: (4) Saint Xavier vs. (5) Bellevue; 2:00 PM EST
Game 2: (2) Madonna vs. (3) Grand View; 4:30 PM EST

Tuesday, May 14
Game 3: (1) Northwestern vs. Winner Game 1; 2:00 PM EST
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2; 4:30 PM EST

Wednesday, May 15
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 2; 1:00 PM EST
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4; 3:30 PM EST
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5; 6:00 PM EST

Thursday, May 16
Game 8: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5; 2:00 PM EST
Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 8 (if necessary); 4:30 PM EST

FAN INFORMATION

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for K-College students and will be sold at the gate. Season passes and institutional IDs will not be accepted for free admission. Fans with NAIA passes will receive one free entry per pass-holder.

A live stream will be available for all games, with a pay-per-view rate of $10 per game or $25 for the entire Opening Round

UP NEXT

The NAIA Tournament gets underway Monday, May 13 and Madonna will play in the second game of the day at 4:30 PM EST against the Vikings of Grand View University 

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