Field set with host Bruins serving as No. 1 seed in Bellevue Bracket

NAIA Release
Opening Round Schedule/Results
Opening Round Bellevue Bracket Tournament Page

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the third-straight season, and fifth time overall, the Bellevue University baseball team will host an NAIA National Tournament Opening Round Bracket.

The NAIA announced the entire field of qualifiers for this year's National Championship on Thursday afternoon. The 46-team field is set to compete in 10 four- or five-team Opening Round sites around the country from May 15-18. The 10 Opening Round winners will advance to Lewiston, Idaho for the 65^th Avista-NAIA World Series to once again be played at Harris Field on the Lewis-Clark State College campus.

Joining the Bruins in the Bellevue bracket are, in seeded order, Doane University, Oklahoma City University, and Grand View University.

All games from the Opening Round Bellevue Bracket will stream free of charge via the Bellevue Bruins YouTube Channel and live stats will be available on both Presto and Stat Broadcast.

This year, the Bruins earned the No. 1 seed in the Bellevue Bracket, which will be played at Don Roddy Field. Bellevue won the NSAA Regular-Season and Tournament titles and enter the Opening Round with a 45-8 overall record after posting a 25-3 mark in NSAA play and sweeping their way through the conference tournament. In the Final NAIA Coaches' Poll, released on Wednesday, BU secured the No. 5 ranking.

Doane, like Bellevue, won dual championships, claiming both the Great Plains Athletic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament titles. The Tigers, ranked No. 14 in the final NAIA Coaches' Poll, enter the Opening Round at 42-10 overall and went 23-5 in GPAC play before taking home the tournament crown with a 1-0 nail-biter over Concordia.

Oklahoma City, winners of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, stand at 30-19 overall and posted a 16-8 mark in SAC play. The Stars are receiving votes in the final Coaches' Poll. They won 15 of their final 18 games including taking two of three from Science & Arts in late-April and sweeping their way to the SAC Tournament, culminating with a 13-3 win over Science & Arts in the championship.

Grand View qualified by winning the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. The Vikings are unranked in the final NAIA Coaches' Poll enter the Opening Round and own a 34-11 overall mark. They posted an 18-10 record in Heart play and swept their way through the conference tournament, including an 11-5 win over 2022 Avista World Series participant MidAmerica Nazarene in the title game.

Bellevue is making its 13^th appearance in the Opening Round, having won titles in 2016 (Grand Rapids Bracket), 2019 (Shreveport Bracket), and 2022 (Bellevue Bracket). They are 25-20 all-time in the Opening Round and sport a 10-7 record when hosting (8-5 at Roddy Field).

A different team has won each of the previous four Opening Rounds hosted by Bellevue: Tabor (2015), Science & Arts (2017), Concordia (2021), and Bellevue (2022).

The Bruins are making their 25^th National Tournament Appearance and pursuing their 16^th appearance in the Avista NAIA World Series. Last season, Bellevue defeated Concordia 5-2 in the "In Necessary" Championship Game to advance to Lewiston.

NAIA National Championship Opening Round

Bellevue Bracket • Don Roddy Field

Monday, May 15:

Game 1: #2 Doane vs. #3 Oklahoma City, noon
Game 2: #1 Bellevue vs. #4 Grand View, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 16:

Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, noon
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 17:

Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, noon
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 3:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 18:

Game 7: Same teams as Game 6, noon (If Necessary)