AAC Sending 4 Teams to NAIA Baseball Opening Round

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Opening Round Schedule] The NAIA has announced the 46-team field and pairings for the 2023 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The 14th annual event takes place May 15-18 at 10 host sites nationwide. Six of the sites will feature five-team, double-elimination tournaments while the final four brackets will sport only four squads each.

The winners of all 10 Opening Round sites will head to Lewiston, Idaho for the 66th Annual Avista NAIA Baseball World Series running from May 26 – June 2. For more information on the World Series, click here.

The field consists of 31 automatic qualifiers – given to conference regular-season champions, regular-season runners-up, tournament champions or tournament runners-up. Additionally there were 15 at-large teams. Conferences with 10-or-more members receive two automatic qualifiers, while leagues with less than 10 get one. At-large teams were determined by the NAIA Baseball National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council, a member of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association Executive Committee and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.

The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is sending four teams to the Opening Round, which is more than any other league in the NAIA.

Tennessee Wesleyan is a No. 1 seed in the Upland (Ind.) Bracket, while Bryan is the No. 3 seed in the Kingsport (Tenn.) Bracket. Reinhardt and Union are each No. 4 seeds at the Williamsburg (Ky.) and Hattiesburg (Miss.) brackets, respectively.

For more information on NAIA Baseball, click here.

Opening Round Notes

• Overall, there are 30 repeat qualifiers from the 2022 Opening Round, including nine teams that won opening round titles last season.
• Dillard (La.) and Concordia (Mich.) will be making their first appearance in the Opening Round in program history. 
• Southeastern (Fla.), the reigning NAIA National Champions, are the lone team to reach the 50-win threshold this season.
• Twenty-two have combined to win 51 Opening Round crowns.
• The AAC leads all conference with four entrants, followed by the Golden State, Great Plains, Heart, Mid-South, Sooner, and Sun with three each. 
• All-Time Opening Round Record by Seed
  • No. 1-Seed: 238-80 (.748)
  • No. 2 seed: 152-156 (.493)
  • No. 3 seed: 152-158 (.490)
  • No. 4 seed: 124-172 (.419)
  • No. 5 seed: 97-171 (.362)
• All-Time Opening Round Host Records
  • 2011 Hosts: 17-7 (.708)
  • 2012 Hosts: 23-7 (.766)
  • 2013 Hosts: 20-5 (.800)
  • 2014 Hosts: 18-8 (.692)
  • 2015 Hosts: 20-9 (.689)
  • 2016 Hosts: 20-14 (.588)
  • 2017 Hosts: 21-10 (.677)
  • 2018 Hosts: 17-9 (.653)
  • 2019 Hosts: 21-8 (.76)4
  • 2021 Hosts: 15-11 (.576)
  • 2022 Hosts: 30-8 (.789)
  • TOTAL: 192-88 (.698)