2024 NAIA softball tournament

2024 NAIA softball tournament
Teams	48
Format	double-elimination
Finals site	South Commons Softball Complex Columbus, GA
Champions	Our Lady of the Lake (1st title)
Runner-up	Jessup
Winning coach	Bruce Lenington
MVP	Cassandra Valdez (Our Lady of the Lake)
Television	NAIA Network, ESPN3
	← 2023; NAIA Softball Championship; 2025 →;

The 2024 NAIA softball tournament was the 43rd edition of the NAIA softball championship. The 48-team tournament began on May 13 with Opening Round games at ten different sites and concluded with the 2024 NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Georgia on May 23–29.

Our Lady of the Lake won its first NAIA title, defeating Jessup 2–0. Cassandra Valdez of Our Lady of the Lake was named tournament MVP.

Format

For the 2024 tournament, the field was expanded to 48 teams, with 32 receiving an automatic bid by either winning their conference's tournament, finishing as their conference tournament runner-up, or by finishing in first place in their conference. The remaining 16 bids were issued at large, with selections extended by the NAIA Selection Committee.^[1]

Bids

Conferences with 10 or more members received two automatic berths, while conferences with less than 10 received one.^[1] All conferences awarded a bid to their tournament champion.

Automatic


School	Conference	Qualifying Method	Record	Last Opening Round Appearance	Appearances
Aquinas	Wolverine-Hoosier	Tournament Runner-Up	40-13	2021	3
Benedictine	Heart	Tournament Runner-Up	39-14	1st
Central Methodist	Heart	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	48-4	2023	4
Cottey	American Midwest	Regular-Season Champion	34-19	2022
Dickinson State	North Star	Tournament Champion	44-3-1	2017	5
Eastern Oregon	Cascade	Tournament Champion	37-8	2022	2
Embry-Riddle	Cal-Pac	Tournament Champion	38-11	2023
Evangel	KCAC	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	36-8	2006	1
Florida National	Continental	Tournament Runner-Up	23-22	1st
Freed-Hardeman	Mid-South	Tournament Champion	31-16	2023	2
Georgia Gwinnett	Continental	Tournament Champion	29-15	2023
Indiana Wesleyan	Crossroads League	Tournament Runner-Up	40-13	2023	4
IU Southeast	River States	Regular-Season Champion	34-16	2023	3
LSU Alexandria	Red River	Tournament Champion	36-12	2019	3
Madonna	Wolverine-Hoosier	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	48-3	2023	5
Marian	Crossroads League	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	44-10	2023	6
Middle Georgia State	Southern States	Tournament Runner-Up	33-14	2023
Midland	Great Plains	Tournament Runner-Up	42-10	2023	4
Missouri Baptist	American Midwest	Regular-Season Champion	33-12	1st
Northwestern(IA)	Great Plains	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	48-5	2023	2
Oklahoma City	Sooner	Regular-Season Champion	49-3	2023	33
Oregon Tech	Cascade	Regular-Season Champion	43-9	2023	8
Ottawa (KS)	KCAC	No. 2 Seed in Conference Tournament	38-16	2023	4
Our Lady of the Lake	Red River	Regular-Season Champion	50-3	2023
Reinhardt	Appalachian	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	42-8	2023	4
Rio Grande	River States	Tournament Champion	34-17	2022	1
St. Xavier	Chicagoland	Tournament Champion	27-12	2023	7
Science & Arts	Sooner	Tournament Champion	44-7	2023	7
St. Thomas	The Sun	Tournament Champion	38-10	2014	1
Tennessee Wesleyan	Appalachian	Tournament Runner-Up	27-13	2023
Vanguard	Golden State	Tournament Champion	40-11	2023	5
William Carey	Southern States	Regular Season/Tournament Champion	38-12	2022	7

At-large


School	Conference	Record	Last Opening Round Appearance	Total Appearances
Baker	Heart	33-14	2023
Bellevue	North Star	32-20	2019	5
Coastal Georgia	The Sun	36-12	2023
College of Idaho	Cascade	32-17	2023	4
Cumberlands	Mid-South	25-13	2022
Friends	KCAC	34-17	2011	3
Grand View	Heart	33-17	2022
Hope International	Golden State	35-15	2023
Houston-Victoria	Red River	32-12	2021
Jessup	Golden State	36-9	1st
Mid-America Christian	Sooner	36-15	1st
St. Francis	Chicagoland	29-14	2023
Southeastern	The Sun	38-17	2023	2
Southern Oregon	Cascade	42-11	2023	3
Spring Arbor	Crossroads League	33-20	1986	1
Stillman	Southern States	35-13	1st

By conference


Conference	Total	Schools
Cascade	4	College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Oregon Tech, Southern Oregon
Heart	4	Baker, Benedictine, Central Methodist, Grand View
Crossroads League	3	Indiana Wesleyan, Marian, Spring Arbor
Golden State	3	Jessup, Hope International, Vanguard
KCAC	3	Evangel, Friends, Ottawa
Red River	3	Houston-Victoria, LSU Alexandria, Our Lady of the Lake
Sooner	3	Mid-America Christian, Oklahoma City, Science & Arts
Southern States	3	Middle Georgia State, Stillman, William Carey
The Sun	3	Coastal Georgia, Southeastern, St. Thomas
American Midwest	2	Cottey, Missouri Baptist
Appalachian	2	Reinhardt, Tennessee Wesleyan
Chicagoland	2	St. Francis, St. Xavier
Continental	2	Georgia Gwinnett, Florida National
Great Plains	2	Midland, Northwestern
Mid-South	2	Cumberlands, Freed-Hardeman
North Star	2	Bellevue, Dickinson State
River States	2	Indiana Southeast, Rio Grande
Wolverine-Hoosier	2	Aquinas, Madonna
Cal-Pac	1	Embry-Riddle

Opening Round

The Opening Round brackets were held May 13–16 at campus sites.^[2]

Chickasha Bracket (Bill Smith Ballpark - Chickasha, OK)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Science & Arts	5

4	Baker	3	4	Baker	3

5	Friends	0				Science & Arts	5

						Midland	4

			2	Midland	2

			3	LSU Alexandria	0
								Science & Arts (5 inn.)	8

								Midland	0
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Midland	5

			Baker		1	LSU Alexandria	2

Friends		0	LSU Alexandria		7

LSU Alexandria		1

Fayette Bracket (Cox Stadium Complex - Fayette, MO)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Central Methodist (5 inn.)	12

4	Mid-America Christian	0	5	Dickinson State	0

5	Dickinson State	2				Central Methodist	3

						Indiana Wesleyan	4

			2	Indiana Wesleyan	1

			3	College of Idaho	0
								Indiana Wesleyan	3	1

								Central Methodist	8	4
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Central Methodist	7

			Dickinson State		3	Dickinson State	0

Mid-America Christian		4	Mid-America Christian		2

College of Idaho		0

Hattiesburg Bracket (Joseph & Nancy Fail Field - Hattiesburg, MS)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Jessup	6

4	IU Southeast	3	5	Stillman	3

5	Stillman	7				Jessup	6

						William Carey	3

			2	William Carey	3

			3	Reinhardt	2
								Jessup	2	4

								William Carey	3	3
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						William Carey	10

			Stillman		4	Stillman	3

IU Southeast		1	IU Southeast		1

Reinhardt		0

Indianapolis Bracket (Marian Softball Diamond - Indianapolis, IN)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Marian	6

4	Aquinas	2	5	Rio Grande	5

5	Rio Grande	5				Marian	1

						Southern Oregon	6

			2	Southern Oregon	1

			3	Middle Georgia State	0
								Southern Oregon	9

								Marian	2
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Marian (9 inn.)	1

			Rio Grande		0	Aquinas	0

Aquinas		4	Aquinas (5 inn.)		8

Middle Georgia State		1

Klamath Falls Bracket (John & Lois Stillwell Stadium - Klamath Falls, OR)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Oregon Tech (8 inn.)	4

4	Embry-Riddle (5 inn.)	10	4	Embry-Riddle	3

5	Florida National	0				Oregon Tech	2

						Vanguard	8

			2	Vanguard	8

			3	St. Thomas	5
								Vanguard	5	0

								Oregon Tech	7	8 (5 inn.)
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Oregon Tech	7

			Embry-Riddle		0	St. Thomas	5

Florida National		5	St. Thomas		1

St. Thomas		6

Lawrenceville Bracket (Grizzly Softball Complex - Lawrenceville, GA)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Eastern Oregon	8

4	Missouri Baptist	3	5	Spring Arbor	3

5	Spring Arbor	4				Eastern Oregon	0

						Georgia Gwinnett	2

			2	Georgia Gwinnett	4

			3	Southeastern	0
								Georgia Gwinnett	1

								Eastern Oregon	0
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Eastern Oregon	3

			Spring Arbor		0	Southeastern	2

Missouri Baptist		4	Southeastern		4

Southeastern (10 inn.)		5

Oklahoma City Bracket (Ann Lacy Stadium - Oklahoma City, OK)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Oklahoma City	6

4	Ottawa (KS)	0
			Oklahoma City	5
Winner's bracket
			Houston-Victoria	0
3	Freed-Hardeman	0

2	Houston-Victoria	4
					Oklahoma City (5 inn.)	11

					Ottawa (KS)	1
Ottawa (KS)		2

Freed-Hardeman		1
			Houston-Victoria	2
Loser's bracket
			Ottawa (KS)	3

San Antonio Bracket (St. Mary's University Softball Stadium - San Antonio, TX)^[2]

First round			Semi-finals		Finals

1	Our Lady of the Lake	4

4	Cottey	0
			Our Lady of the Lake	1
Winner's bracket
			Hope International	0
3	Evangel	0

2	Hope International	3
					Our Lady of the Lake	2

					Hope International	0
Evangel		5

Cottey		6
			Hope International (5 inn.)	9
Loser's bracket
			Cottey	0

Sioux Center Bracket (Open Space Park - Sioux Center, IA)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Northwestern	2

4	St. Xavier	4	4	St. Xavier	1

5	Bellevue	3				Northwestern	3

						Madonna	2

			2	Madonna	6

			3	Grand View	3
								Northwestern	2	0

								Madonna	8	1
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Madonna	7

			St. Xavier		4	Bellevue	1

Bellevue		2	Bellevue		6

Grand View		0

Williamsburg Bracket (UC Softball Complex - Williamsburg, KY)^[2]


First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals		Final



			1	Cumberlands	3

4	Tennessee Wesleyan	1	5	St. Francis	1

5	St. Francis	3				Cumberlands	5

						Benedictine	1

			2	Benedictine	2

			3	Coastal Georgia	1
								Cumberlands	7

								Coastal Georgia	1
First round			Quarterfinals			Semifinals



						Benedictine	1

			St. Francis		4	Coastal Georgia	4

Tennessee Wesleyan		1	Coastal Georgia		5

Coastal Georgia		7

NAIA Softball World Series

The 43rd annual NAIA Softball World Series was held May 23–29 at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Georgia.

Participants


School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head Coach	World Series Appearances (including 2024)	World Series Record (excluding 2024)
Central Methodist	Heart	52-5 (24–0)	Pat Reardon	5 (2024, 2023, 2015, 2012, 1981)	4-8
Cumberlands	Mid-South	47-7 (23–1)	Bailey Dillender	2 (2024, 2023)	2-2
Georgia Gwinnett	Continental	32-15 (0-0)	Kat Ihlenburg	4 (2024, 2023, 2019, 2018)	6-6
Jessup	Golden State	39-10 (15–5)	Brie Campbell	1 (2024)	0-0
Madonna	Wolverine-Hoosier	52-4 (22–0)	Ron Pezzoni	6 (2024, 2021, 2012, 2010, 2009, 1994)	7-8
Oklahoma City	Sooner	54-3 (35–1)	Phil McSpadden	32 (2024, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1990, 1989, 1988)	135-49
Oregon Tech	Cascade	47-10 (24–3)	Greg Stewart	9 (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2015, 2012, 2011, 1997)	22-14
Our Lady of the Lake	Red River	53-3 (24–0)	Bruce Lenington	2 (2024, 2023)	0-2
Science & Arts	Sooner	47-7 (31–5)	Jadyn Wallis	8 (2024, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2018 2006, 2005, 2004)	16-14
Southern Oregon	Cascade	40-17 (20–7)	Jessica Pistole	6 (2024, 2023, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017)	20-6

Bracket^[3]


First round			Second round			Quarterfinals		Semifinals				National Championship



			8	Madonna	0

8	Madonna	1	1	Our Lady of the Lake	3
						Our Lady of the Lake	3
9	Georgia Gwinnett	0
						Oregon Tech	0
			4	Cumberlands	1

			5	Oregon Tech	2
								Our Lady of the Lake (8 inn.)	4

								Science & Arts	3
			7	Jessup (5 inn.)	11

7	Jessup	5	2	Oklahoma City	2
						Jessup	4
10	Southern Oregon	4
						Science & Arts	5
			3	Central Methodist	3

			6	Science & Arts	8							Our Lady of the Lake	2

												Jessup	0

First round			Second round			Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Semifinals



						Oregon Tech	4

			Oklahoma City		1	Cumberlands	2			Science & Arts	2

Georgia Gwinnett		0	Cumberlands		4			Oregon Tech	3	Jessup	3

Cumberlands (8 inn.)		1						Jessup	4

						Jessup	4

			Madonna		4	Madonna	3

Southern Oregon		3	Southern Oregon		3

Central Methodist		2

Game results^[4]


Date	Game	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Winning pitcher	Losing pitcher	Save	Notes
May 23	Game 1	Jessup	5-4	Southern Oregon	Katie Blankenheim (16–5)	Katie Machado (25–6)	-	-
	Game 2	Madonna	1-0	Georgia Gwinnett	Maeson Schlaud (36–3)	Annalise Jarvis (19–6)	-	-
	Game 3	Oregon Tech	2-1	Cumberlands	Kacie Schmidt (26–7)	Lindsey Shope (17–3)	-	-
	Game 4	Science & Arts	8-3	Central Methodist	Sophie Williams (28–4)	Jordan Ball (27–2)	-	-
May 24	Game 5	Cumberlands	1-0 (8 inn.)	Georgia Gwinnett	Talli Burgess (15–0)	Annalise Jarvis (19–7)	-	Georgia Gwinnett eliminated
	Game 6	Southern Oregon	3-2	Central Methodist	Katie Machado (26–6)	Haile Farris (19–3)	-	Central Methodist eliminated
	Game 7	Jessup	11-2 (5 inn.)	Oklahoma City	Bella MacFarlane (5–1)	Shelby Cornelson (23–4)	-	-
	Game 8	Our Lady of the Lake	3-0	Madonna	Cassandra Valdez (27–1)	Maeson Schlaud (36–4)	-	-
May 25	Game 9	Cumberlands	4-1	Oklahoma City	Talli Burgess (16–0)	Shelby Cornelson (23–5)	-	Oklahoma City eliminated
	Game 10	Madonna	4-3	Southern Oregon	Maeson Schlaud (37–4)	Katie Machado (26–7)	-	Southern Oregon eliminated
	Game 11	Our Lady of the Lake	3-0	Oregon Tech	Cassandra Valdez (28–1)	Kacie Schmidt (26–8)	-	-
	Game 12	Science & Arts	5-4	Jessup	Sophie Williams (29–4)	Terra Goetz (14–3)	-	-
May 27	Game 13	Oregon Tech	4-2	Cumberlands	Kacie Schmidt (27–8)	Talli Burgess (16–1)	Mackenzie Staub (2)	Cumberlands eliminated; game delayed & completed on May 28
May 28	Game 14	Jessup	4-3	Madonna	Katie Blankenheim (17–5)	Maeson Schlaud (37–5)	-	Madonna eliminated
	Game 15	Our Lady of the Lake	4-3 (8 inn.)	Science & Arts	Cassandra Valdez (29–1)	Sophie Williams (29–5)	-	-
	Game 16	Jessup	4-3	Oregon Tech	Bella MacFarlane (5–1)	Kacie Schmit (27–9)	-	Oregon Tech eliminated
May 29	Game 17	Jessup	3-2	Science & Arts	Katie Blankenheim (18–5)	Sophie Williams (29–6)	-	Science & Arts eliminated
May 29	Game 18	Our Lady of the Lake	2-0	Jessup	Cassandra Valdez (30–1)	Terra Goetz (14–4)	-	Our Lady of the Lake wins NAIA Softball World Series

Championship game^[5]

May 29, 2024 - 5:00 PM EDT at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Georgia
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Jessup	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Our Lady of the Lake	0	0	1	0	0	1	X	2	6	0
WP: Cassandra Valdez (30-1) LP: Terra Goetz (14-4) Home runs: JESSUP: None OLLU: Madison Garza Attendance: N/A Time: 1:53 Umpires: HP: Scott Helmka, 1B: Terry Hall, 2B: Phil Troutman, 3B: Kristina Bates Boxscore

All-Tournament Team^[5]


Position	Player	School
P	Talli Burgess	Cumberlands
	Annalise Jarvis	Georgia Gwinnett
	Maeson Schlaud	Madonna
	Kacie Schmidt	Oregon Tech
	Sophie Williams	Science & Arts
P/UTL	Cassandra Valdez (MVP)	Our Lady of the Lake
1B	Puakea Milbourne	Oregon Tech
INF	Sarah Giles	Jessup
INF	Malea McMurtrey	Science & Arts
INF/OF	Hailey Seva	Southern Oregon
OF	Kayla Dreese	Our Lady of the Lake
	Amber Gainer	Cumberlands
	Alyssa Gauthier	Madonna
	Macenzie Ruth	Science & Arts
UTL	Sam Lorge	Jessup
UTL	Maddy Ybarra	Jessup

Media coverage

Live-streaming

The Opening Round live streams were produced by the host schools. World Series games from May 23–28 were streamed on the NAIA Network with play-by-play by Jack Kreuzer.

Television

The semifinals and national championship were broadcast on ESPN3, with Kreuzer providing play-by-play and Columbus State University softball coach Brad Huskisson serving as the analyst.

References

^ ^a ^b "2024 NAIA Softball National Championship Qualifiers Revealed". NAIA. 2024-05-07. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "2024 NAIA Softball Opening Round Schedule | Results". NAIA. 2024-05-15. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
^ "NAIA" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
^ "NAIA Stats". NAIA Stats. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
^ ^a ^b "Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) Captures First Red Banner in Program History". NAIA. 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2025-05-29.

[:0-1] "2024 NAIA Softball National Championship Qualifiers Revealed". NAIA. 2024-05-07. Retrieved 2024-05-27.

[:1-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "2024 NAIA Softball Opening Round Schedule | Results". NAIA. 2024-05-15. Retrieved 2024-05-27.

[3] "NAIA" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved 2025-05-29.

[4] "NAIA Stats". NAIA Stats. Retrieved 2025-05-29.

[:2-5] "Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) Captures First Red Banner in Program History". NAIA. 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2025-05-29.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Format

Bids

Automatic

At-large

By conference

Opening Round

Chickasha Bracket (Bill Smith Ballpark - Chickasha, OK)[2]

Fayette Bracket (Cox Stadium Complex - Fayette, MO)[2]

Hattiesburg Bracket (Joseph & Nancy Fail Field - Hattiesburg, MS)[2]

Indianapolis Bracket (Marian Softball Diamond - Indianapolis, IN)[2]

Klamath Falls Bracket (John & Lois Stillwell Stadium - Klamath Falls, OR)[2]

Lawrenceville Bracket (Grizzly Softball Complex - Lawrenceville, GA)[2]

Oklahoma City Bracket (Ann Lacy Stadium - Oklahoma City, OK)[2]

San Antonio Bracket (St. Mary's University Softball Stadium - San Antonio, TX)[2]

Sioux Center Bracket (Open Space Park - Sioux Center, IA)[2]

Williamsburg Bracket (UC Softball Complex - Williamsburg, KY)[2]