Posted: May 11, 2014
2014 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round Quarterfinals
#2-seed Central Methodist (41-6) vs. #3-seed Columbia (30-16)
Monday, May 12 - 12 p.m. CT
Columbia, Mo. - Antimi Sports Complex Black Field
Live Video, Audio, Stats, Chat:�CMUEagles.com
Talent:�Nicholas Petrone
Twitter:�@cmueagles
FAYETTE, Mo. - No. 2-seed Central Methodist, champions of the 2014 Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) regular-season and Championship Series, opens National Championship Opening Round action Monday at 12 p.m. CT at Black Field in Cosmo Park's Antimi Sports Complex against No. 3-seed Columbia (Mo.). The contest is the first game in the Columbia Bracket.
Live video, audio, stats, chat and Twitter updates will be available for the game.�
The winner of Central Methodist/Columbia plays the winner of No. 1-seed LSU Alexandria (La.)/No. 4-seed Morningside (Iowa) in the Opening Round semifinals Tuesday at 11 a.m. The loser of the Eagles/Cougars contest plays Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. against the loser of the Generals/Mustangs affair in an elimination game.
Tickets for the tournament, which runs Monday, May 12, through Wednesday, May 14, as well as programs can be purchased at the entrance to Black Field. The first potential championship game is slated for Wednesday at 12 p.m. If both teams finish that game with one loss, they will play a final elimination game on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Central Methodist qualified for its second straight Opening Round and is making its third-straight appearance in the national tournament and fourth overall (1981, 2012, 2013, 2014). The Eagles are 1-2 all-time in the Opening Round and 3-6 in the national tournament, having posted a 1-2 record in 1981, 2012 and 2013.
Central Methodist, riding a nine-game overall win streak, is 15-2 in away games this season and has won 14-straight away games. Central Methodist has outscored its opponents 298-129.
The Eagles are led by four-time reigning HAAC Pitcher of the Year Aubrey Utley and Player of the Year Michele Rupard.
Utley has been dominant this season in the circle, rolling to a 24-1 record in 26 appearances to become the school's all-time leader in wins (92) and strikeouts (552). Her 13 shutouts in 2014 are a single-season school record. In the NAIA this season, Utley ranks fifth in wins (24), 10th in innings pitched per game (6.28), 12th in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (0.86), 16th in earned run average (1.33) and 39th in innings pitched (163.1). She has a team-high 131 strikeouts against only 20 walks. Opponents are batting only .228 against the Trenton, Mo., product.
Rupard has posted a single-season school record 38 walks and ranks 31st in the nation in doubles (16), 35th in runs scored per game (1.071) and 47th in slugging percentage (0.717). In 42 games this season, the junior catcher from Kansas City leads the team in batting average (.408), hits (49), doubles (16), runs scored (45), on base percentage (.556) and slugging percentage (.717). She ranks third on the team in home runs (7) and RBIs (28).
Columbia, the host school for the Columbia Bracket, qualified for the 2014 Opening Round by finishing as the runner-up in the�American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament. The Cougars are making their first appearance in the Opening Round but have reached the World Series 15 times�(1990-91-92-93-94-95-96-99-2002-03-04-05-07-08-10) and have posted an overall record of 15-32.
The Cougars are 11-3 at Black Field this season but have lost two of their last three at home. Columbia has outscored its opponents 318-153.
Columbia is led by AMC Player of the Year Jamie Holmes. In 43 games, the senior first baseman is batting .416 with five homers, 31 RBIs, 64 hits, 47 runs scored, 11 doubles, four triples and eight walks.
Central Methodist and Columbia last met on the softball field in 2008 in the NAIA Region V Tournament. The Eagles defeated the Cougars 4-1 on May 8 of that year but lost two games the next day to the Cougars by scores of 3-1 and 7-6.
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