#11 Softball 5/22/2013 6:21:00 PM

Stars meet Cal State San Marcos in NAIA Championships

OCU's Wright motivated to play for Moore, Okla.

Drew Wright is hitting .394 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs in 2013.

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Drew Wright's heart will be with her hometown of Moore, Okla., when her Oklahoma City University softball team competes in the NAIA Championships this week.
Wright and the fourth-ranked Stars (50-13) open national-tournament play against fifth-ranked Cal State San Marcos at 3 p.m. CDT Friday at South Commons Softball Complex. To watch the NAIA Championships games, click here. To follow the games via live stats, click here.
The senior third baseman said it was difficult to leave Oklahoma City on Tuesday after a destructive tornado leveled several city blocks of Moore and south Oklahoma City on Monday.
Fortunately, Wright's family is safe from the tornado that has been hailed as the most severe to hit the area.
“As I sit on this bus on my way to the national tournament, my heart is not with me,” Wright wrote on her Facebook page. “My heart is with my town, my neighbors, my friends, my family, my people. One of the hardest things I've ever done is leave a place I was born and raised that is now in ruins.”
Wright told her father she had no business leaving at this time. Michael Wright replied, "Go play for Moore, represent your home.”
“There is not a place in the world that I would rather call my home,” Drew Wright said. “Every single person is with me wherever I go, and I am with y'all. You all are in my every single thought, my every dream, and my every prayer. When I compete for the last time, Moore will be a part of every ball I throw, every base I touch and every step I take. Here's to keeping the faith and coming out stronger.”
The Stars captured the program's 27th bid into the NAIA Championships by winning the first ever NAIA Championship Opening Round Oklahoma City Bracket. The Stars routed Bellevue (Neb.) 9-0 on Wednesday, May 15 at Ann Lacy Stadium after Bellevue nipped OCU 5-4 in 13 innings to force the tournament's if-necessary game.
OCU leads NAIA softball in national-tournament appearances, national championships (eight), national championship game appearances (13) and national-tournament wins (110). OCU owns national titles won in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2007.
Last year, OCU finished as national runner-up for the fifth time ever. Shorter (Ga.) edged the Stars 1-0 in nine innings on May 23, 2012 in Gulf Shores, Ala., for the national championship.
The Stars pace the NAIA in runs scored (484), runs batted in (420), hits (652), doubles (134), doubles per game (2.13) and at-bats (1,796) this year. Kyndra Holasek, a freshman from Mustang, Okla., tops the NAIA in doubles (23) and at-bats (226). To see where OCU stacks up with the rest of the NAIA statistically, click here.
To see the university's ongoing efforts to aid the tornado relief, click here.
Bracket
NAIA Championships Press Book

NAIA Championships
At Columbus, Ga.
South Commons Complex
All Times CDT
Friday's Games
Game 1: Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) vs. Spring Hill (Ala.), 9 a.m.
Game 2: Reinhardt (Ga.) vs. Saint Xavier (Ill.), noon
Game 3: Cal State San Marcos vs. Oklahoma City, 3 p.m.
Game 4: Lee (Tenn.) vs. Williams Baptist (Ark.), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday's Games
Game 5: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 9 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, noon
Game 7: Lubbock Christian (Texas) vs. Winner Game 1, 3 p.m.
Game 8: Concordia (Calif.) vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Monday's Games
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7, 9 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8, noon
Game 11: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 8, 3 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 7, 6 p.m.
Tuesday's Games
Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11, noon
Game 14: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 12, 3 p.m.
Game 15: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 29
Game 16: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 3 p.m.
Game 17: Winner Game 16 vs. Loser Game 15, 6 p.m.
Thursday, May 30
Game 18: Winner Game 15 vs. Winner Game 17, 4 p.m.
Game 19: If necessary, 30 minutes following Game 18

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