Game Time...(RV) Northwestern College begins NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round play against 15th-ranked University of St.Francis (Ill.) in the first game of the Southern Oregon Bracket on Monday, May 14 at US Cellular Field in Medford, Ore. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm (CST). Northwestern, the No.3 seed in the four-team bracket, is 35-11 overall while St.Francis is the No.2 seed and owns a 38-7 overall record. 

Southern Oregon Bracket Website | NAIA Opening Round Championship website

Southern Oregon webcast (payment required) | Live Stats

Southern Oregon Bracket / Format...The Southern Oregon Bracket is one of 10 opening round sites across the NAIA that host a four-team, double-elimination tournament with the winner advancing to the 2018 NAIA World Series held in Clermont, Fla. on May14-16. 

The five teams that comprise the Upland Bracket are:
    No.1 seed / 8th-ranked Southern Oregon
    No.2 seed / 15th-ranked St. Francis (Ill.)
    No.3 seed / (RV) Northwestern College
    No.4 seed / Simpson (Calif.)

How Northwestern Qualified...Northwestern is one of the 30 automatic qualifiers in the 40-team opening round field, earning an auto bid by way of the winning the GPAC Postseason Tournament Championship. Midland, the GPAC regular season champion, earned the league's other auto bid.

Opening Round History...The Red Raiders are making their first appearance in the NAIA Opening Round (format began in 2013) and third ever appearance at the NAIA Softball National Championship. The Red Raiders are 2-4 all-time at the championship.

    1997-1-2
        lost to Mobile, 4-2
        def. Lipscomb, 4-3
        lost to Athens State, 8-0

    2002: 1-2
        def. Ohio Dominican, 2-0
        lost to Mobile, 4-0
        lost to Ohio Dominican, 3-1

Earlier This Season...Northwestern defeated St.Francis 10-6 in a game played on March 9 in Tucson, Ariz. Kayla Tindall earned the win, giving up eight hits and four earned runs in the full seven innings. The senior struck out six. Offensively, Northwestern totaled 13 hits, led by Emily Bosch, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs. Amanda Everhart, Jessica Sandbulte and Emily Sones all had two hits.

St. Francis was led by Anna Wetherell and Kayla Garcia with two hits each while Jensen Tchorzynski took the loss, giving up six runs in 2.2 innings. The teams combined for nine errors,four by the Red Raiders.

Northwestern Notes...Earning votes in the final coaches' poll, the Red Raiders have a 35-11 overall record heading into this week's NAIA Opening Round match-up against St. Francis. They are 7-3 over their last 10 games and boast the third best win percentage and seventh most wins in program history for a season. Northwestern finished third in the GPAC regular season (15-5), one game in back of both Midland and Morningside, and won the GPAC postseason title, winning two of three games against Midland.

Nachtigall is in his seventh season as the Red Raiders head coach, leading teams to three GPAC titles, two regular season and one postseason.

By the Numbers:   
    Batting Average: .278         Opponent Batting Average: .244 
    Runs / Game: 4.9                Runs Given Up / Game: 2.8 
    Hits / Game: 7.7                  Hits Given Up / Game: 6.6 
    Stolen Bases: 68/83            Stolen Bases by Opponent: 21/25

    Individual Players:
    Jensen Boger: (2nd team all-conference) .345 BA, 23 runs, 18 RBIs 
    Emily Bosch: (2nd team all-conference) .339 BA, 23 runs, 5 HR, 25 RBIs
    Cheyenne Wilcke: (HM all-conference) .298 BA, 29 runs, 12 HR, 30 RBIs
    Madison Beaver: (2nd team all-conference).285 BA, 24 runs, 3 HR, 14 RBI
    Emma Schnell: .271 BA, 14 runs, 4 HR, 18 RBIs
    Jessica Sandbulte: .282 BA, 31 runs, 12 2B (7th), 4 HR, 18 RBI
    
    Emma Schnell: (1st team all-conference) 17-4, 1.82 ERA, 142 IP, 20 BB, 99 K's
    Kayla Tindall:  (2nd team all-conference) 17-6, 1.85 ERA, 155 IP, 37 BB, 139 K's 

Scouting Report...

    #15 St. Francis Fightng Saints-21-1 (1st), 38-7 overall

The Fighting Saints have won six straight and 22 of their last 23 games heading into the opening round match-up. USF won both the Chicagoland Regular Season and Postseason Championships, going 21-1 in the regular season. They are 38-7 overall and opened the season ranked 11th in the preseason poll and have been ranked in the top 20 all season. 

Amanda Jensen is in her sixth year as the team's head coach, owning a 64% win percentage with a 153-86 record. Jensen returns every player in the offensive line-up and her top pitcher from a 2017 team that went 43-7 on the year, 2-2 in the opening round of the NAIA Opening Round.

USF is making its third appearance in the opening round, going 4-4 in the previous two trips in 2015 and 2017. Prior to the current format with the opening round site, USF made six appearances to the World Series and is 10-12 at the final site. They last appeared in the World Series back-to-back years in 1996-97.

By the Numbers:  (NAIA rank if top 10)
    Batting Average: .330           Opponent Batting Average: .234
    Runs / Game: 6                    Runs Given Up / Game: 2.7
    Hits / Game: 9.1                   Hits Given Up / Game: 6.2
    Stolen Bases: 22/26             Stolen Bases by Opponent: 14/23

    Individual Players:
    Kayla Garcia (2x 1st team all-conference): .418 BA, 14 HR (8th), 50 RBIs
    Ally Balandis (3x 1st team all-conference): .409 BA, 43 runs, 5 HR, 33 RBIs
    Paige Egan: .364 BA, 22 runs
    Brooke Karraker (4x 1st team all-conference): .352 BA, 39 runs, 5 HR

    Morghan Dieringer (All-American; CCAC Pitcher of the Year): 22-2, 1.25 ERA, 168.2 IP, 210 K's
    Taylor Barsz (2x 2nd team all-conference)  10-3, 2.91 ERA  84.1 IP, 45 K's