KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA released the seeding and opponents on Wednesday evening for the 2026 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. The Wildcats earned the No. 3 seed in the Columbia, Kentucky bracket and will match up with the 2 seed Missouri Baptist for their first game. IWU will make their eleventh-consecutive* and overall NAIA Tournament appearance this year (*No 2020 Championship due to COVID-19). The Wildcats gained their bid after winning the Crossroads League Regular Season Championship title, going 30-6 in conference play.

The no. 1 seed in the bracket, Lindsey Wilson, earned an automatic bid by being the Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion and went 41-6 on the year. The Blue Raiders are the host team for the Columbia Bracket. The Missouri Baptist Spartans will be the no. 2 seed in the region after finishing the year 40-12 and won the Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular Season title to get into the NAIA Opening Round. They will face the Wildcats on Monday, May 11th. The Firehawks of Tennessee Southern earned an at-large bid after a 30-17 season and a 12-10 Southern States Athletic Conference record. The final team in the Columbia region will be the Johnson Royals out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Royals won the regular season title in their conference, going 19-7 in conference play with an overall record of 31-18. The two Tennessee teams in the region, UT Southern and Johnson (Tenn.), will face each other in the first game before the winner takes on Lindsey Wilson. 

To view the full qualifier release from the NAIA, click HERE.

THE SCHEDULE
Monday, May 11, 2026

• Game 1: No. 4 Tennessee Southern  vs. No. 5 Johnson (Tenn.) - 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET
• Game 2: No. 2 Missouri Baptist  vs. No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan - 2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET
• Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. No. 1 Linsey Wilson - 5:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM ET

• Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET
• Game 5: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner - 2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET
• Game 6: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner - 5:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM ET

• Game 7 - Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner - 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET
• Game 8 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner - 2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET

• Game 9 - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (If Necessary) // 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET

 

TICKETS/ VIDEO/ STATS
Links for tickets, live video, and live stats will be available at IWUWildcats.com.



 

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