2015 Baseball Opening Round Qualifiers Announced
By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 45-team field for the 2015 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The event will take place May 12 – 15 at nine different locations. Each site will feature a five-team, double-elimination tournament with the winners joining host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at the 59th annual Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, May 22 – 29.
The official pairings for the Opening Round will be announced with a video bracket show at 6 p.m. CDT. ClickHERE to access the show.
The Opening Round field is comprised of 29 automatic qualifiers – given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up – and 16 at-large teams. Conferences with 10-or-more members received two automatic qualifiers, while leagues with less than 10 are given one.
For the first time in NAIA baseball history, at-large teams were determined by a National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council (NAC) Rules and Ratings Committee, the president of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
To access the full championship selection policy, click HERE. For a list of frequently asked questions on the NSC, click HERE.
“It was a very exciting process for the first time,” said NSC Chair Jim Boeve. “We had a lot of people that spent a lot of time, and had a lot of discussion to make the process work. There are always going to be teams that are disappointed that they didn’t make the field, however I believe we did our due diligence and followed the process as we were charged to do. I’m very happy with how it’s gone.”
Overall, there are 27 repeat qualifiers from the 2014 National Championship Opening Round, including five defending Opening Round champions – Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Wesleyan and Tabor (Kan.).
Four programs punched their first-ever ticket to the event: Briar Cliff (Iowa), Northwestern Ohio, Northwood (Fla.) and St. Catharine (Ky.). St. Catharine, which hails from the Mid-South Conference, is the only program among the quartet to receive an at-large berth.
Four institutions within the 2015 qualifiers have participated in every Opening Round since the format began in 2009 – Embry-Riddle (Fla.), LSU Shreveport (La.), Oklahoma City and Tennessee Wesleyan. The Eagles, who are hosting the Daytona Beach Bracket for the seventh-straight season, highlights the group with five Opening Round titles, followed by four from Oklahoma City. Embry-Riddle also owns the most Opening Round wins among the qualifiers with 18.
There will be a new champion of NAIA baseball this season, as 2014 Avista-NAIA World Series title winner Cumberland (Tenn.) failed to make the field. The Bulldogs are the first team to fail to qualify after taking home the banner the previous season in the Opening Round era.
Seven qualifiers have previously won a World Series title, led by Lewis-Clark State’s 16. The Warriors also own the World Series record for victories with 128 in 33 previous appearances. Bellevue (Neb.) (1995), Concordia (Calif.) (2011), Faulkner (2013), Oklahoma City (2005), St. Francis (Ill.) (1993) and Tennessee Wesleyan (2012) are the other programs with at least one red banner.
The American Midwest Conference, Golden State Athletic Conference and The Sun Conference lead all leagues with four teams each represented in the field of 45.
Last season, four of the nine hosts won their respective Opening Round tournaments. Overall, hosts have won 26-of-54 all-time Opening Rounds. Embry-Riddle and former-member Lee (Tenn.) boast the most Opening Round titles with five each.
The No. 1 seeds were dominant in the 2014 event, as eight-of-nine punched a ticket to the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. Third-seeded Cumberland (Tenn.), which would go on to win its third national title, was the only non-No. 1.
For more information on the 2015 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round and Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series, click here.
2015 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Qualifiers
|
School |
Qualification |
Record^ |
OR Appearances* |
OR Record |
OR Titles |
|
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Champion |
40-16 |
4th |
7-6 |
0 |
|
Bellevue (Neb.) |
Midlands Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
44-13 |
6th |
6-10 |
0 |
|
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
Great Plains Athletic Regular-Season Champion |
29-23-1 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
|
British Columbia |
NAIA West Tournament Champion |
38-17 |
5th |
7-8 |
0 |
|
Bryan (Tenn.) |
Appalachian Athletic Tournament Runner-Up |
42-16 |
2nd |
2-2 |
0 |
|
Cal State San Marcos |
Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion |
36-15 |
3rd |
2-4 |
0 |
|
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
At-Large No. 8 |
28-11 |
5th |
7-7 |
1 |
|
Concordia (Calif.) |
Golden State Athletic Tournament Champion |
44-15 |
4th |
5-4 |
1 |
|
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
Great Plains Athletic Tournament Champion |
24-24 |
2nd |
0-2 |
0 |
|
Davenport (Mich.) |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Tournament Champion |
48-9 |
2nd |
1-2 |
0 |
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
The Sun Tournament Champion |
36-17 |
7th |
18-3 |
5 |
|
Faulkner (Ala.) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Runner-Up |
45-13 |
6th |
10-6 |
3 |
|
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
At-Large No. 9 |
35-14 |
2nd |
0-2 |
0 |
|
Georgia Gwinnett |
At-Large No. 2 |
47-12 |
2nd |
4-1 |
1 |
|
Grand View (Iowa) |
Midwest Collegiate Tournament Champion |
20-20 |
4th |
1-6 |
0 |
|
Judson (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
40-18 |
4th |
3-6 |
0 |
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
World Series Host |
41-11 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
38-17 |
3rd |
5-4 |
0 |
|
LSU Alexandria (La.) |
At-Large No. 12 |
39-14 |
2nd |
1-2 |
0 |
|
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
Red River Athletic Tournament Champion |
43-12 |
7th |
11-8 |
2 |
|
Lyon (Ark.) |
American Midwest Tournament Runner-Up |
33-11 |
2nd |
1-2 |
0 |
|
Madonna (Mich.) |
At-Large No. 14 |
37-15 |
4th |
4-6 |
0 |
|
Mayville State (N.D.) |
North Star Athletic Tournament Champion |
39-20 |
4th |
2-6 |
0 |
|
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
Heart of America Athletic Tournament Runner-Up |
33-21 |
2nd |
1-2 |
0 |
|
Missouri Baptist |
American Midwest Tournament Champion |
41-11 |
6th |
9-9 |
1 |
|
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
Crossroads Regular-Season Champion |
37-10 |
6th |
5-10 |
0 |
|
Northwestern Ohio |
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Regular-Season Champion |
42-13 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
|
Northwood (Fla.) |
The Sun Regular-Season Champion |
39-12 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
|
Oklahoma Baptist |
At-Large No. 1 |
49-6 |
5th |
10-5 |
2 |
|
Oklahoma City |
Sooner Athletic Tournament Champion |
43-11 |
7th |
15-5 |
4 |
|
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
At-Large No. 3 |
46-12 |
2nd |
3-0 |
1 |
|
Peru State (Neb.) |
Heart of America Athletic Regular-Season Champion |
38-14 |
2nd |
2-2 |
0 |
|
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
32-20 |
2nd |
0-2 |
0 |
|
Southeastern (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 16 |
38-19 |
2nd |
2-2 |
0 |
|
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
Crossroads Tournament Champion |
30-16 |
3rd |
2-4 |
0 |
|
St. Catharine (Ky.) |
At-Large No. 13 |
37-15 |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
|
St. Francis (Ill.) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Regular-Season Champion |
27-26 |
5th |
8-8 |
0 |
|
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
At-Large No. 6 |
41-15 |
4th |
6-6 |
0 |
|
Sterling (Kan.) |
At-Large No. 7 |
46-13 |
4th |
6-4 |
1 |
|
Tabor (Kan.) |
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion |
49-9 |
4th |
8-4 |
1 |
|
Tennessee Wesleyan |
Appalachian Athletic Regular-Season Champion |
43-10 |
7th |
16-8 |
3 |
|
The Master's (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 4 |
42-12 |
4th |
4-4 |
1 |
|
Vanguard (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 15 |
34-20 |
3rd |
3-4 |
0 |
|
Westmont (Calif.) |
At-Large No. 5 |
39-15 |
2nd |
1-2 |
0 |
|
William Woods (Mo.) |
At-Large No. 11 |
38-12 |
3rd |
2-4 |
0 |
|
York (Neb.) |
At-Large No. 10 |
39-17 |
4th |
3-3 |
1 |
^ - as submitted by school in DakStats
* - includes 2015 appearance
OR - Opening Round