Rio draws No. 12 Wildcats in NAIA Opening Round

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande is heading to the Marion Bracket of the 2025 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round.
     The Opening Round matchups were announced Wednesday night by the national office.
     The 25th-ranked RedStorm will square off with bracket host and No. 12-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University on Monday, May 12, at 2 p.m., at IWU's Sue Bowman Field in Marion, Ind.
     Rio Grande (44-9), which is riding an 11-game winning streak, including three victories last weekend to capture the River States Conference championship and the league's automatic berth to the national tournament, is seeded third in the five-team, double-elimination bracket.
     Indiana Wesleyan (43-9), which earned its spot in the national tournament as the tournament runner-up in the Crossroads League, is the No. 3 seed in the bracket.
     Monday's opening game pits No. 4 seed College of Coastal Georgia (35-17) against fifth-seeded Reinhardt (Ga.) University (28-10) at 11 a.m.
     The Reinhardt-Coastal Georgia winner will face the top seed in the bracket, No. 9-ranked Madonna (Mich.) University (44-8), on Monday, at 5 p.m.
     The Reinhardt-Coastal Georgia loser will face the loser of the Rio-IWU game in an elimination contest on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
     The Rio-IWU winner will play the survivor of the Madonna-CCG/Reinhardt winner in Tuesday's 2 p.m. game
     Rio Grande is back in the national tournament Opening Round for the ninth time in 10 seasons.
     Head coach Chris Hammond's squad is led by senior pitcher Madi Ogden (Williamsburg, OH), who was named both the Pitcher of the Year and the Player of the Year in the River States Conference.
     Ogden sports a 23-5 record with three saves and a 0.74 earned run average. She's allowed just 92 hits in 169-2/3 innings, while walking 33 batters and striking out 258.
     Ogden, a three-time NAIA Pitcher of the Week this season, leads the country in both ERA and strikeouts.
     Offensively, the RedStorm are fueled by junior first baseman Gabby Adams (Grove City, OH), who is batting .411 with a team-high seven home runs, four triples and 62 runs batted in. She also ranks second on the team with 17 doubles.
     Junior outfielder Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) is batting a team-high .424 and has driven in 41 runs. She leads the team with 18 doubles.
     Senior designated player Megan Bazler (Portsmouth, OH) is hitting .410 with 13 doubles, two home runs and 36 RBI, while sophomore Maddie Engler (Crestline, OH) is batting .373 with a team-high 33 walks.
     Ogden, Adams, Sedgwick, Bazler and Engler - along with sophomore shortstop Nigella Reck (Covington, OH) - were all first team All-RSC selections. Reck was also the league's Newcomer of the Year.
     Indiana Wesleyan is coming off of a 13-1 loss in five innings to Marian (Ind.) University in the Crossroads League Tournament.
     The Wildcats have five regulars who are hitting .400 or better - junior Morgan Yeater (.518, 11 2B, 7 3B, 2 HR, 49 RBI), junior Courtney Thomas (.458, 30 RBI), senior Abby Harvey (.432, 19 2B, 4 3B, 3 HR, 71 RBI), freshman Whitney Waddell (.420, 13 2B, 33 RBI), and senior Sadie Harding (.407, 2 HR, 33 RBI). Yeater's batting average ranks fourth nationally and Harvey's RBI total is third in the nation.
     A sixth player, senior Brylee Bilger is batting .366 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI.
     Junior Jordyn Ball is IWU's top pitcher, with a 23-3 record and a 2.31 ERA. In 157-1/3 innings, she's allowed 156 hits while walking 41 and striking out 151.
     Head coach Steve Babinski's Wildcats also rely on freshman Isabelle Beidelschies (11-5, 3.74 ERA) and freshman Malayni Clemens (9-0, 4.18 ERA) in the pitcher's circle.
     Top-seeded Madonna finished 24-0 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference during regular season play, but dropped two of its last three games - both to the University of Northwestern Ohio, whom Rio Grande defeated in the regular season.
     The Crusaders lead the NAIA in hitting (.398) and feature four players hitting .400 or better. Four players in head coach Ron Pezzoni's lineup have driven in 50 or more runs.
     Sophomore Ashley Rosiewicz is the team's top overall threat (.487, 17 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 56 RBI), while sophomore Ella Thomas (.459, 47 RBI), freshman Brynn Anteau (.458, 22 2B, 64 RBI), freshman Rylee Fitzpatrick (.423, 14 2B, 60 RBI) and senior Mackenzie Ming (.338, 8 HR, 50 RBI) have also been heavy hitters this season.
     Senior Jane Anderson (19-4, 2.17 ERA) and sophomore Camille Oyer (16-0, 2.67 ERA) have provided Madonna's 1-2 punch in the pitching department.
     College of Coastal Georgia, which dropped two of its three games in the Sun Conference Tournament, has made its bones this year through solid pitching and features a pair of hurlers recording 12 or more wins and another with a sub-2.00 earned run average.
     Sophomore Rylee Mills is 14-7 with a 2.00 ERA in 27 appearances, all but three of which were starts, while freshman McKenzie Collins is 12-7 with a 2.95 ERA and freshman Emilia Clemons is 9-3 with a 1.77 ERA.
     Offensively, Mills leads head coach Mike Minick's Mariners with a .368 batting average, 15 doubles and 40 RBI.
     CCG's lineup also includes sophomore Emma Jones (.351), sophomore Rily Andrews (11 2B) and freshman Rylie Smith (10 HR, 37 RBI).
     Reinhardt finished 2-2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, including a 1-0 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan in an elimination contest.
     The big bruiser in the Eagles' offensive attack is sophomore Ansley Hight, a Southern Miss transfer, who is batting .481 with 14 doubles, three triple, 13 home runs and 61 runs batted in.
     Junior Taylor Wade (.432, 22 RBI) is the only other regular for head coach Matthew Wright hitting .400 or better, while senior Kyra Lightner checks in at .385 with 10 doubles, five triples, three home runs and 24 RBI.
     Sophomore Anslie Pruitt, a Georgia Southern transfer, is the top pitcher for RU. She has a 17-3 record and a 1.21 ERA with 142 strikeouts over 121-2/3 innings.
     One other game is set for Tuesday at 5 p.m., with two more games on Wednesday, May 14 and one more contest - if necessary - set for Thursday, May 15.
     The winner of the bracket - one of 10 taking place across the country - will advance to the 44th NAIA Softball World Series, which is set for May 22-28 in Columbus, Ga.