Kansas City, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 40-team field and pairings for the 2017 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. The event will take place from May 15 - 17 at 10 different locations. The format is a double-elimination, four-team tournament. For more information on the 10 host sites, click here.

The 40-team field is comprised of 31 automatic qualifiers and nine at-large berths. The 18 conferences receive one berth per six teams and two berths per ten teams. In addition, one Unaffiliated Group (Association of Independent Institutions / Gulf Coast) earns two berths. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll released today, which can be accessed here.

The Columbia Bracket will consist of the Cougars, the University of Mobile (Ala.) Rams, the Grand View (Iowa) University Vikings, and the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots. All Columbia Bracket games will be played at the Antimi Sofball Complex.

The Cougars, who clinched a spot in the NAIA National Championships after winning the AMC Softball Championships, come into the opening round with a 43-5 record on the season. They are currently riding a 14 game winning streak and rank in the top five nationally in 11 offensive categories including first in doubles per game (2.250), hits per game (11.708), runs batted in per game (7.375), batting average (0.403), and slugging percentage (0.606). They are led by Molly Carter who was named the AMC Player of the Year following her record breaking 78 RBI's and 14 homeruns. This is the Cougars third trip to the opening round since the tournament took this format in 2013.

The Rams, who qualified for the 2017 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round after finishing as the runner up in the Southern States Athletic Conference Softball Championships, come into the opening round with a 38-17 record on the season and 18-8 record in conference play. They currently rank eighth in the NAIA in earned run average (1.510), ninth in opponents' batting average (0.212), and 13^th in fielding percentage (0.966). They are led by Emily Fleetwood who leads the team in hits (63) and stolen bases (20) and Sydney O'Connor who ranks 13^th nationally in earned run average (1.14). The Rams are one of three teams in the opening round that have won a national championship (2006) and are making their second appearance in the opening round.

The Vikings, who qualified for the 2017 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round after winning the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season title, come into the opening round with a 41-13 record on the season and 27-7 mark in conference play. As a team, they rank second in the NAIA in total doubles (117) and doubles per game (2.167) while also ranking 10^th in total batters struck out (302). They are led by Devin Brown who ranks 4^th in the NAIA in total doubles (23) and 14^th in total hits (17) as well as Claudia Farrell who ranks sixth nationally in wins (24) and 14th in earned run average (1.19). This is the Vikings fourth overall appearance in the opening round and their third consecutive.

The Patriots, who qualified for the 2017 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round after winning the Mid-South Conference Softball Championships, come into the opening round with a 19-32 record on the season and 5-16 record in conference play. They are currently riding a four game winning streak and rank 18^th in the NAIA with 95 total stolen bases. They are led by Kaylee James who ranks 7^th in the NAIA in total stolen bases (41) and leads the team in hits (77) and batting average (0.407). This marks the first time the Patriots have qualified for the opening round.

The Cougars will play their first game of the double elimination tournament on Monday, May 15^th when they take on the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) at 12 p.m. at Antimi Softball Complex.

For a complete schedule of the Columbia Bracket click here.