DECATUR, Ala. – Oklahoma City University will begin pursuit of its ninth national championship with a pool-play contest with Minot State (N.D.) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 20 in the NAIA softball championships at Wilson Morgan Softball Complex.

OCU will also play Madonna (Mich.) at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 21 and Concordia (Calif.) at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 22. The winners of each pool will advance to play in an eight-team double-elimination bracket that will be played out May 24-26.

The Stars (40-11) earned an automatic bid by virtue of winning the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. OCU qualified for the national tournament for the 24th time in school history, and for the 18th consecutive year. OCU has captured eight national softball championships, the most in the NAIA. OCU won in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2007.

Lily LaVelle, a sophomore from Bridge Creek, Okla., earned SAC pitcher of the year honors after a 20-4 campaign. She had a 1.42 earned run average and struck out 179 batters in 141.1 innings of work. At the plate, LaVelle also leads the Stars in hits (74), runs (55) and home runs (11).

Autumn Mayberrry was honored as the SAC freshman of the year. Mayberry, a freshman from Mustang, Okla., batted .431 with three home runs, 34 RBIs and 40 runs scored.

Also earning all-SAC accolades were senior pitcher Ashley Wilburn, senior outfielder Amanda Howard and sophomore third baseman Nathalie Timmermans. Freshman first baseman LeeAnn Lopez garnered honorable mention all-SAC, while senior catcher Jen Davis was named to the gold glove team.

Eighth-ranked Concordia (41-15) earned an at-large bid, while 23rd-ranked Madonna (41-10) won the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament. Minot State (32-13) is making its first trip to the national tournament as the Dakota Athletic Conference Tournament champion. 
To view the complete pool-play schedule, click here.