KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Day three of the 2025 NAIA Softball Opening Round was once again full of great games and clutch hits from teams who needed to win elimination games. The field continued to dwindle on day three as five tickets were punched to the World Series in Columbus, Georgia.
In Ashland, Oregon, the College of Idaho won the first of two knockout games, sending Saint Xavier (Ill.) home after a 4-2 game, but the Royals of Hope International (Calif.) didn’t want to end their season either in game seven. The Yotes opened the game, scoring their only runs to lead 3-0. HIU plated a run in the third, fourth, and four in the fifth to survive and play Southern Oregon tomorrow morning as they look to force the if necessary game.
Just down the road in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the Hustlin’ Owls kept their season alive, but needed eight innings against the Fire of Southeastern (Fla.) to do so in a 2-1 battle. Puakea Milbourne answered with a ball down the left field line allowing Jayce Seavert to cross home and take the win. OIT needed to do the same thing again in game eight against Midland (Neb.) to force the if necessary game tomorrow at 1 p.m. PT. Oregon Tech, put up a run in the fifth and sixth innings as Jenna Gorden recorded the win and Kacie Schmidt notched her fourth save of the season.
Coming back to the Sioux Center, Iowa, Northwestern (Iowa) picked up a much-needed win to open the day over Baker (Kan.), 3-2, before the Knights of Marian (Ind.) marched through game eight for a spot in Columbus after a 10-2 six-inning win over the Red Raiders.
Going down to Fayette, Missouri, Tennessee Southern needed an extra inning against top-seeded LSU Alexandria (La.), but plating six runs in the eighth guided the UT Southern to a 7-3 win. Central Methodist (Mo.) needed just one win in game eight of the pod to punch its ticket to Columbus, and the Eagles did just that. CMU scored a run in the first, two in the fourth and sixth innings as a standout two-homerun game from Lauren Hill was the difference maker.
In Oklahoma City, the Stars were playing for their season all day. OCU came out in game seven with the bats red hot, putting up 11 runs over the Mustangs one run in five innings. The Stars followed up that performance with a nail-biting 6-5 win against Missouri Baptist to add one game tomorrow in a winner-takes-all all. Oklahoma City broke the game open in the second inning with six runs on seven hits as they were able to survive the late push from the Spartans.
Over in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Science & Arts (Okla.) needed to win the first game of the day against Grand View (Iowa) to force the, if necessary, game for a chance to book its ticket to the World Series. The Drovers got it done with a 10-7 victory behind a stellar performance from Sophie Williams in the circle. USAO drove in five runs on six hits in the top of the seventh to force one final game in Chickasha. In game two, the Vikings struck right away in the bottom of the first, plating a pair of runs, giving some room for Madeline Waldorf to go to work in the circle and earn a spot in the World Series.
In the south, with San Antonio, Texas, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) survived a battle against Middle Georgia State, which ended with Lily Rocha clearing the left field wall for a walk-off grand-slam, keeping the defending national champions’ dreams alive. In game eight, Eastern Oregon had different plans as the Mountaineers needed just one more win to keep the season going. Kylie Parsons for EOU pitched a gem of a game, allowing just four hits through eight shutout innings of work. Hope Burke stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and sent EOU to Columbus with a walk-off home run over the left field wall for a 3-0 ball game.
Over in Lawrenceville, Georgia, St. Thomas (Fla.) needed a game seven win against Evangel (Mo.) to keep the dream of making it to Columbus alive, and they achieved that, cruising to a 4-0 shutout win. The Grizzlies then handled business against St. Thomas in game eight to punch a ticket to the World Series.
In Williamsburg, Kentucky, Cumberlands (Ky.) passed Texas A&M-Texarkana 5-1 for a chance to punch a ticket to Columbus. Mobile (Ala.) secured the one-run victory over Cornerstone (Mich.), 4-3, to face the Eagles of TAMUT, but fell short in a 2-1 ball game. TAMUT will look to force the if-necessary game tomorrow afternoon against the Patriots, while UC looks to claim its ticket.
Up north in Marion, Indiana, Indiana Wesleyan took top-seeded Madonna (Mich.) to extra innings, where the Crusaders secured the 7-6 victory before Rio Grande (Ohio) ended their season with a 2-0 win. The Red Storm and Eagles of Reinhardt (Ga.) will square off as RU needs just one more win to be the first ever five seed to reach the World Series.
How were the seeds one through five doing after day three?
No. 1: 21-12
No. 2: 24-10
No. 3: 14-17
No. 4: 5-20
No. 5: 7-14
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