Streaming | NAIA Opening Round Schedules
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Evangel University softball team found out its destination on Wednesday afternoon in the NAIA National Tournament after earning one of the NAIA automatic bids. The Valor will head to Lawrenceville, Georgia, as the number three seed and face No. 2 seed St. Thomas (Fla.) on Monday, May 12th.
Evangel and St. Thomas' first pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) on Monday (May 12) at the Grizzly Athletic Complex in Lawrenceville, Georgia. All tickets are purchasable at the gate with cash or card and will cost $10 per day or $25 for a tournament pass. All games will be streamed for free through the Georgia Gwinnett Sports Network on YouTube.
The Valor return to the NAIA National Tournament for the second consecutive season under Jay Halbrook. Evangel will head to the Lawrenceville Opening Round hosted by the number one seed and host, Georgia Gwinnett, as five teams will take part in one of 10 opening round sites around the country with the winner at each site advancing to the NAIA National Championship Final Site in Columbus, Georgia. No. 4 seed Thomas (Ga.) will take on No. 5 seed Johnson (Tenn.) in a first-round game at 11:00 a.m. (CT) on Monday. The winner of the first game will take on top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett later that evening at 4:00 p.m.
Evangel earned its bid by receiving an automatic berth, earned by winning the conference tournament championship. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference brings one other team to this season's tournament, three-seeded Friends, who will take on Marian (Ind.) in Sioux Center, Iowa on Monday at 1:30 p.m.
The Valor enter the tournament at 40-10 under the direction of tenth-year head coach Jay Halbrook. This is Halbrook's second trip to the national tournament in his career at Evangel and is the second consecutive appearance after Evangel traveled to San Antonio last season for opening rounds.
Evangel is 1-2 all-time against Thomas (Ga.), taking on the Nighthawks as recently as 2022, but has never competed against St. Thomas, Georgia Gwinnett, or Johnson in Evangel history.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.
