KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The NAIA announced the 48-team field for the 45th annual NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round on Wednesday evening. For the 11th consecutive season and 13th time overall, the Marian softball has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament, as the Knights are earning an at-large bid to the NAIA Opening Round.
Marian's 11th consecutive bid to the NAIA Championship field sees them enter the championship as a four seed, with the Knights headed south to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to play in the William Carey bracket.
The field for 2026 includes 29 automatic qualifiers, who either punched their ticket by winning their conference regular season or conference tournament, or by being a conference tournament runner-up in their respective conference. Four teams punched their ticket to the opening round, earning a host-at-large berth. At the same time, the remaining 15 spots in the field were filled by the softball national selection committee, comprised of head coaches and administrators from around the country.
Five teams are making their first opening-round appearance in 2026: Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.), Dillard (La.), Dordt (Iowa), Oakland City (Ind.), and Saint Francis (Ind.). On the other side of first appearances for teams in 2026, Oklahoma City is making its 13th opening round appearance, the best mark among the field of 48.
Twenty-nine teams return to the opening round for back-to-back years. Williams Baptist (Ark.), and Tennessee Southern, making an appearance again after a 10-year hiatus.
After hosting in both 2023 and 2024, the Knights are on the road for the second consecutive year for the NAIA Opening Round. Marian's seed line at four is the lowest for the Knights in their last six seasons. Last season, the Knights were a two-seed in the bracket hosted by Northwestern College.
Teams looking to punch one of ten tickets to Columbus for the NAIA Softball World Series have a battle in front of them as the combined overall winning percentage of the field sits at .722 percent, or a combined overall record of 1,744-671. There are 14 teams with 40 or more wins on the season; only eight of those teams have dropped nine or fewer games this season.
The top seed in Marian's bracket is William Carey, who was ranked 12th in the final NAIA Coaches Poll of the regular season. The Lady Crusaders (39-12) earned an automatic bid to the NAIA Championship by winning the Southern States Tournament. Marian is 0-1 all-time against William Carey, losing the final game of the 2022 season to the Crusaders in the NAIA Opening Round.
The number two seed in the bracket is Coastal Georgia (37-12), who enter the tournament as one of the 15 at-large teams. Coastal Georgia was ranked 18th in the final poll of the season and reached the penultimate game in the Sun Conference Tournament. The Knights have never played the Mariners.
The third seed in the Hattiesburg bracket is Georgia Gwinnett (29-22), which is making its way to Hattiesburg after winning the Continental Athletic Conference Tournament. The Grizzlies, who received votes in the final NAIA regular-season poll, are making their 11th straight postseason appearances. Marian is 1-1 all-time against GGC, losing in the 2019 NAIA World Series while picking up a win in the 2023 World Series. Sydney Wilson pitched a complete-game shutout in Marian's 2023 6-0 victory.
The final team and opponent for Marian in the NAIA Opening Round is five seed Columbia College. The Cougars qualified for the NAIA Tournament Field after winning the American Midwest Conference Tournament Championships. Marian has a rooted postseason history with the Cougars, holding an all-time record of 2-3 against Columbia. Marian last played the Cougars in 2023, going 2-1 overall against the Missouri squad in the NAIA Opening Round hosted in Indianapolis. The Knights had to win two games on the final day of the tournament, taking the if-necessary championship game 8-1. The Knights lost the first-ever meeting in the 2018 NAIA World Series, and then met again in the 2021 NAIA Opening Round, in which Marian traveled to the hosts, Columbia.
Tickets for the event will be sold on site, and cash or card are accepted. Tournament passes cost $50, while daily passes cost $20.
All games of the tournament will be streamed through the Urban Edge Network.
Marian plays the first game of the week in Hattiesburg, playing at 12:00 p.m. Central, taking on Columbia College. If the Knights win the matchup against Columbia, they will return to the diamond on Monday night to take on host William Carey. If the Knights lose, they will play a season-defining elimination game on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m.
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