The NAIA Baseball National Championship tournament starts with nine tournaments with five teams in each tournament field. This “Opening Round” will be played May 18-21. The nine winners, plus host team Lewis-Clark State, qualify for the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID May 28-June 4.
The nine locations, the number #1 seeds, and the hosts (if different from the #1 seed), are:
- Silver Cross Field, Joliet, IL – Cumberland – Saint Francis
- Totman Stadium, Riverside, CA – Cal Baptist
- Olympic Field, Cleveland, TN – Lee
- Hays Field, Lubbock, TX – Lubbock Christian
- Jim Wade Stadium, Oklahoma City, OK – Oklahoma City
- FPU Diamond, Fresno, CA – British Columbia – Fresno Pacific
- Sliwa Stadium, Daytona Beach, FL – Embry-Riddle
- Golden Park, Columbus, GA – LSU-Shreveport – Columbus Sports Council
- Smith-Wills Stadium, Jackson, MS – Missouri Baptist – Belhaven
Complete fields for the Opening Round tournaments:
| Opening Round ID |
Opening Round Host |
Schools Involved |
| Group #1 | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, City of Joliet, Ill., and University of Saint Francis (Ill.) – located in Joliet, Ill., at Silver Cross Field | No. 1 Cumberland (Tenn.) No. 2 Campbellsville (Ky.) No. 3 St. Francis (Ill.) No. 4 Robert Morris (Ill.) No. 5 Mayville State (N.D.) |
| Group #2 | California Baptist University – located in Riverside, Calif., at Totman Stadium | No. 1 California Baptist No. 2 Madonna (Mich.) No. 3 College of Idaho No. 4 Vanguard (Calif.) No. 5 Huntington (Ind.) |
| Group #3 | Lee University – located in Cleveland, Tenn., at Olympic Field (website) | No. 1 Lee (Tenn.) No. 2 South Carolina-Beaufort No. 3 Taylor (Ind.) No. 4 William Jewell (Mo.) No. 5 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Calif.) |
| Group #4 | Lubbock Christian University – located in Lubbock, Texas, at Hays Field | No. 1 Lubbock Christian (Texas) No. 2 York (Neb.) No. 3 Avila (Mo.) No. 4 Mount Marty (S.D.) No. 5 Texas at Brownsville |
| Group #5 | Oklahoma City University – located in Oklahoma City, Okla., at Jim Wade Stadium (website) | No. 1 Oklahoma City No. 2 Union (Tenn.) No. 3 Jamestown (N.D.) No. 4 Grand View (Iowa) No. 5 Northwestern (Iowa) |
| Group #6 | Fresno Pacific University – located in Fresno, Calif., at FPU Diamond | No. 1 British Columbia No. 2 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) No. 3 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) No. 4 Houston-Victoria (Texas) No. 5 Ohio Dominican |
| Group #7 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – located in Daytona Beach, Fla., at Embry-Riddle Sliwa Stadium | No. 1 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) No. 2 Faulkner (Ala.) No. 3 Rio Grande (Ohio) No. 4 Union (Ky.) No. 5 St. Thomas (Fla.) |
| Group #8 | Columbus Sports Council – located in Columbus, Ga., at Golden Park | No. 1 LSU-Shreveport No. 2 Southern Poly State (Ga.) No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan No. 4 Indiana Southeast No. 5 Indiana Tech |
| Group #9 | Belhaven University – located in Jackson, Miss., at Smith-Wills Stadium (website) | No. 1 Missouri Baptist No. 2 Belhaven (Miss.) No. 3 Brewton-Parker (Ga.) No. 4 Texas Wesleyan No. 5 Kansas Wesleyan |
