After a stellar regular season, one that included a 39-12 record and a conference championship, the William Carey softball team is one of the host sites for the 2026 NAIA Softball National Championship.
Hattiesburg was selected as 10 host sites nationwide, with tournament action beginning Monday. Teams competing at Joseph & Nancy Fail Field include 1-seed William Carey, 2-seed Coastal Georgia, 3-seed Georgia Gwinnett, 4-seed Marian, and 5-seed Columbia College.
William Carey will play the winner of Marian (34-16) and Columbia (27-13) on Monday at 6 p.m. Marian and Columbia get underway with first pitch at noon before Coastal Georgia (37-12) and Georgia Gwinnett (29-22) begin at 3 p.m.
The Lady Crusaders earned an automatic bid to the NAIA Championship by winning the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament earlier this month.
The group is led by head coach Wendy Hogue and headlined by Jayden Sawyer – who recently racked up in the conference award category by being named Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year – holds a 22-3 record on the bump with a 0.80 ERA and 232 strikeouts. At the plate, she’s batting .342 with 38 RBI.
William Carey’s number two starter Ryanne Hornsby joined Sawyer on the All-SSAC first team and owns a 12-4 record with a 1.96 ERA and 69 strikeouts.
Offensively, first-team All-SSAC selection Liz Cross leads the team with a .387 batting average with 25 RBI. Fellow first-team honoree Kinley Hogue is batting .370 with 26 RBI.
Georgia Gwinnett cracked the bracket by winning the Continental Athletic Conference, while Columbia also earned an automatic bid by winning the American Midwest Conference. Both Coastal Georgia and Marian were at-large selections.
Another Mississippi team set to compete in the NAIA Softball National Championship is Blue Mountain Christian. It’s the first-ever appearance for the Toppers, who went 38-15-1 in the regular season and earned an at-large bid. Blue Mountain Christian, a 3-seed, will open in Oklahoma City on Monday at 4 p.m. CT against 2-seed Grand View.