CLINTON, Miss. – The Belhaven softball team is set to embark on the 2013 NAIA National Championship run on Monday with a showdown against William Woods University at the Clinton High School Sportsplex in Clinton, Mississippi at 2:00 PM. The Blazers are in the national tournament field for the third time in four seasons, finishing as a high as third in 2011.

Belhaven enters the NAIA National Championship Opening Round as the number two seed in one of 10 opening round brackets throughout the country. The Blazers enter the tournament with a 35-12 record and represent the Southern States Athletic Conference. Belhaven finished third in last weekend's conference tournament and are ranked 13th in the final regulars season NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. The Blazers earned one of nine at-large berths to the tournament field and have now been in the national tournament field three of the last four seasons. Belhaven is coached by Kevin Griffin who is currently in his third season. Griffin guided the Blazers to a third place finish in the 2011 national tournament.

Belhaven is led by Denee' Crawford who lead the team in batting average (.377), total hits (49), doubles (14), home runs (12), and RBI (51). Crawford was named to the SSAC All-Conference Team and tabbed the SSAC West Division Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

The number three seed in the Belhaven bracket, William Woods University from Fulton, Missouri enters the NAIA opening round with a record of 24-14 in 2013. The Owls qualified for nationals as the tournament champion of the American Midwest Conference, defeating top-seeded Williams Baptist along the way. William Woods is coached by Tracy Gastineau, who is finishing her 15th season with a record of 528-306 with the Owls.
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he Owls are led by junior pitcher MacKenzie Bowden from Hartsburg, Missouri who started 19 games this season and put up a record of 13-7. Bowden finished the regular season with a 1.34 ERA and comes into the tournament as the 11th best strikeout pitcher in the NAIA. She averages 12.44 per seven innings pitched.

The other two teams in the opening round field include top-seed Reinhardt University and fourth seed LSU-Alexandria. The will play at 5:00 PM in Monday's other contest. The rest of the tournament schedule includes three games on Tuesday with the championship game scheduled for Wednesday at 1:00 PM.

The Belhaven tournament page can be viewed by clicking here.