Patience and perseverance paid off Wednesday for the Southern Oregon softball team, which endured a morning loss and a long rain delay to finally outlast Oklahoma City 8-3 to win the NAIA Softball World Series in Springfield, Missouri.

The Raiders will head back to Ashland as national champions after a marathon of a day.

First, Southern Oregon lost to the Oklahoma City 8-4 in a game that began at 7 a.m. Pacific time. That forced a winner-take-all rematch between the Raiders and Stars.

The Raiders took control early in the second game when Paige Leeper belted a grand slam in the first inning.

TOUCH. THEM. ALL.

Paige Leeper GRAND SLAM in the 1st inning!!!! pic.twitter.com/MwdS2Y9veW — Southern Oregon Raiders (@SOURaiders) May 29, 2019

Southern Oregon led 6-3 in the top of the fifth inning when the rain arrived, and Raiders players helped place the tarp over the field.

The action then resumed more than eight hours later, about 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. Southern Oregon extended its lead to five runs in the bottom of the fifth, and the Raiders kept the Stars off the scoreboard in the final three innings after the delay to claim its first softball national title.

The game ended more than 13 hours after the first game started in Springfield.