SEWARD, Neb. – The 2021 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round brackets are set. The Concordia University Softball team will be headed to Chickasha, Okla., as part of the Chickasha Bracket hosted by the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma. The journey south will take roughly six-and-a-half hours from Seward. This will be the third national tournament appearance in program history for the Bulldogs.
As the No. 3 seed in the four-team Chickasha Bracket pod, Concordia will take on No. 2 seed Grand View University (Iowa) in the first game slated for Monday, May 17. The other two squads in the bracket are top-seeded Science & Arts and fourth-seeded Bethany College (Kan.). Specific game times were not announced immediately on Tuesday (May 11) during the NAIA’s selection show. The opening rounds (10 separate sites) will play out May 17-19 and follow a double-elimination format.
Head Coach Shawn Semler’s squad qualified for the national tournament thanks to a GPAC tournament runner-up finish. Concordia owns an overall record of 32-11 with victories over four squads that also qualified for nationals: No. 2 Oklahoma City University, No. 13 Morningside (two), No. 25 Midland and Bethany (two). The Bulldogs tied for third in the GPAC regular season standings and were listed among teams receiving votes in the most recent NAIA coaches’ poll.
The 10 opening round winners will advance to the 2021 NAIA Softball World Series to be held in Columbus, Ga., May 27 – June 2.
Facts about Concordia at the national tournament
· Concordia has qualified for the opening round of the national tournament for the third time in program history. Under previous head coach Todd LaVelle, the Bulldogs appeared at the opening round in Shawnee, Okla., in 2014 and in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 2015. In that 2014 appearance (first in school history), Concordia dropped games by scores of 4-3 against sixth-ranked St. Gregory’s University and 3-1 versus Bellevue University. Then in 2015, the Bulldogs earned the program’s first-ever national tournament win (and only to this day) via a 6-4 decision over Grand View University (Iowa). That victory was sandwiched in between two losses to top-ranked Oklahoma City University. Concordia is 1-4 all-time in the opening round.
· Trivia: Which player earned the first national tournament pitching victory in program history? Answer: Michaela Woodward. A native of Cortland, Neb., Woodward tossed all seven innings in the aforementioned win over Grand View. She allowed three earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out two hitters. Woodward posted 20 wins during the ’15 season. Only two pitchers in school history have started national tournament games – Woodward and Amanda Beeson.
· The path to the national tournament became a little clearer for the program when the GPAC began to receive two automatic bids. It’s worth noting that former head coach Frank Greene led the Bulldogs to GPAC regular season titles in 2005 and 2008 and to a conference tournament championship in 2007. Under the current format, Concordia would have earned automatic national tournament bids in each instance. However, at that time, the Bulldogs had to navigate a regional tournament in order to qualify for nationals. Concordia garnered auto bids in 2014 (GPAC tournament runner up) and 2015 (GPAC tournament champion) under a new format.
· Shawn Semler is now the second head coach in program history to take the Bulldogs to the national tournament. In his previous collegiate coaching job, Semler guided NCAA Division II Southwest Minnesota State University to four NCAA tournaments. Semler left as the program’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 241-160. Semler’s record in three seasons at Concordia stands at 72-25. His overall record in 18 seasons as a collegiate softball coach is 483-283.
