Roanoke, Va. – Under fifth-year head coach Robert Wakefield, the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels have received an at-large bid to make their first-ever appearance in the  National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Softball World Series, to be held starting next Wednesday (May 18) at the Botetourt Sports Complex in Roanoke, Va. The World Series will be hosted by Bluefield College.

"It is a great accomplishment for this team and our school," Wakefield said. "We are excited about going to the NCCAA World Series, as it shows where this program is going."

The Lady Evangels, the seventh-seed in the tourney, will begin pool play on Wednesday against second-seeded Belhaven University at 11 a.m.

Later on Wednesday, the Lady Evangels will square off with third-seeded Judson University at 5:30 p.m.

MACU will then wrap up pool play on Thursday (May 19) against sixth-seeded Central Baptist College at 11 a.m.

The top two teams from each pool will then advance to the semifinals, which will be held later on Thursday starting at 3 p.m.

The World Series championship is set for Friday (May 20) at 11 a.m.

All game times listed are Central Standard Time (CST).  

Since starting the season 1-6, the Lady Evangels are 25-21 to enter the World Series with a 26-27 overall record.

The Lady Evangels used a 12-1 stretch following the 1-6 start to get back into postseason contention.

Tiffany Holt is hitting a team-high .362, while Cassidy Hart is hitting .339 this season and pacing the Lady Evangels in several offensive categories, including hits (58), runs (33), doubles (15), RBIs (31) and slugging percentage (.503). Marki Dethloff has a team-high five homers on the season for MACU along with a team-best .497 on-base-percentage that would rank first in school history as an NAIA program.

Mykah Smith is second on the team in both homers (four) and RBIs (29).

Sparked by the duo of Macie Crites and Morgan Wardlow, the Lady Evangels' team ERA of 3.13 is the lowest since joining the NAIA.

Crites won 11 games in the circle with a 2.30 ERA that would be tops in school history as an NAIA school. She also struck out a team-high 82 batters and limited the opposition to just a .244 batting average.

Wardlow also won 11 games and recorded a 3.33 ERA with 61 strikeouts.

Click HERE to purchase Live Video of the World Series. Games can be purchased on a game-by-game basis or with an All-Tournament pass.

Click HERE for the official NCCAA World Series page, including ticket and hotel info, etc.