OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second time in three years, Robert Wakefield has led the Mid-America Christian University softball team to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) World Series. The Lady Evangels were announced as one of nine qualifiers to the event, which will take place next week at the Botetourt Sports Complex in Botetourt, Virginia.
MACU (39-20) earned the #6 seed overall, and the third at-large berth, to the 24th annual NCCAA championship. The Lady Evangels also qualified in 2016 as the #7 seed.
The Lady Evangels are in Pool A, along with Warner University (34-15) from Lake Wales, Florida and Cincinnati Christian University (24-19) from Cincinnati, Ohio. Pool B features Judson University (32-22) from Elgin, Illinois, Emmanuel College (24-26) of Franklin Springs, Georgia, and Belhaven University (22-16) from Jackson, Mississippi. The final pool, Pool C, consists of Trinity International University (28-17) of Deerfield, Illinois, Central Baptist College (37-17) of Conway, Arkansas, and Oakland City University (18-13) of Oakland City, Indiana.
MACU will open their time at the World Series with a date against the top-seeded Warner Royals. Warner earned an at-large berth after they lost the South Region championship to Emmanuel College. The Lady Evangels and the Royals will square off at Noon EDT on Wednesday on Field 3 of the Botetourt Complex. MACU will then come off the field and head immediately over to take on the Midwest Region Champion Cincinnati Christian Eagles at 2:30 p.m. on Field 2.
At the completion of pool play, the nine teams will be re-seeded for a single-elimination bracket to determine the National Champion. Bracket play will commence on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. The quarterfinals will be played at 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. on Fields 2 and 3, and Championship Day will take place on Friday, May 18. The semifinals will take place at Noon, with the Championship game slated for 2:30 p.m. on Field 3. All games will be available for viewing on a pay-per-view basis through the NCCAA's official Championship video partner, the Tourbeau Sports Group. Live Stats will also be available for all 17 games.
MACU will open tournament play with the most victories among qualifying teams with 39. Only one member of the MACU team was a member of the 2016 team that qualified for the World Series – Larissa Tate.
