No one can accuse the NAIA baseball coaches for not getting it right.
The 10-team double-elimination tournament runs through May 29 and will features its toughest field in years.
That’s because of a new postseason plan put into play this year by the NAIA. The new system featured nine opening-round sites where five teams at each site took part in a double-elimination tournament. The new format allows more than one team from the same league on area to qualify for the national tournament.
Prior to the tournaments, the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 poll was released and as things turned out, the nine tournaments pretty much followed the rankings. The top sis teams in the poll – Lubbock Christian, Oklahoma City, Point Loma Nazarene, Berry College, Southern Polytechnic State University, and Embry-Riddle all won their first-round tourneys as did the No. 8 Campbellsville of Kentucky. LCSC, which was ranked No. 7, earns an automatic berth to the tournament as the host.
Joining the top eight ranked teams are No. 10 Lee University and No. 13 Fresno Pacific.
The seeds for the tournament will follow the rankings, meaning LCSC will be the No. 7 seed, its highest seed ever in a tournament played at Lewiston.
Tournament play kicks off Friday with four games while No. 1 Lubbock Christian and No. 2 Oklahoma City receive byes.
Action starts with No. 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) battling No. 9 Lee (Tenn.) at 8:30 a.m. No. 4 Berry (Ga.) will take on No. 5 Southern Polytechnic State (Ga.) at noon followed by No. 3 seed Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) facing No. 6 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) at 3 p.m. The final game of the day will feature No .7 Lewis-Clark State against No. 10 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) at 7:30 p.m.
As long as LCSC is undefeated in the tournament, it will always play the late game of the day. If it loses, then the bracket will follow its normal times and pairings.
The event marks the 53rd Annual World Series and 18th time that Lewis-Clark State has hosted, including the 10th straight. LCSC has won an NAIA-record 16 overall titles, including the last three.
For ticket information, contact the Lewis-Clark ticket booth at 208-792-2471.
