MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - Berry will see a familiar foe to open the 2023 NCAA Softball National Championship in Marshall, Texas as the Vikings will take on Christopher Newport. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. EDT Thursday afternoon.

The Vikings and the Captains met last year in Salem, Va., as part of the national championship tournament. The Vikings held a 2-1 lead after four innings thanks to a Morgan Frye homer, but three unearned runs in the sixth helped CNU to a 6-2 victory in the contest. Eariler this season, BC took part in the Cross Bay Bash hosted by CNU. In that contest, the Vikings led 4-0 through two innings, but CNU scored seven in the third to pull away for an 8-5 victory.

Since that loss, the Vikings (41-5) have gone on to win 28 out of their next 30 contests. A 24-game winning streak was snapped by Mary Hardin-Baylor, but the Vikings would rally back to win the finale of the Belton Regional, 3-2. The Vikings then topped Belhaven, 2-0 and 1-0, in the Mount Berry Super Regional to qualify for the final site.

CNU (31-11) swept through its regional, defeating Roanoke 3-0 in the final game to advance to the Super Regional round. In the Newport News Super Regional, CNU won Friday's first game, but lost the second game to in-state rival Virginia Wesleyan 5-2 to set up a must-win third game. In that contest, a pinch-hit three-run homer in the sixth broke a 3-3 tie and lifted the Captains to a 6-4 victory.

Berry, seeded No. 5, and No. 4-seed CNU are two of four schools making a return trip to the final site. Top overall seed Salisbury and No. 3-seed Trine are the other two returning squads. The four squads traveling to Marshall that weren't in Salem, Va., last year are No. 2-seed Linfield, No. 6-seed Rowan, No. 7-seed Coe, and No. 8-seed Moravian.