Opening Round brackets announced; Bruins hosting as No. 4 seed
Bellevue will host one of nine NAIA Opening Round Brackets next week as the four-seed in the Bellevue Bracket. They will be joined by (1) Science & Arts, (2) MidAmerica Nazarene, (3) Concordia, and (5) Saint Xavier.
NAIA Release
Opening Round Schedule/Results
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Bellevue University baseball team will host four teams in the 2021 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round – Bellevue Bracket at Don Roddy Field.
The NAIA announced the entire field of qualifiers for this year's National Championship on Thursday afternoon with 45 teams set to compete in nine five-team Opening Round sites around the country from May 17-20. The nine Opening Round winners will join host Lewis-Clark State University in Lewiston, Idaho for the 64th Avista NAIA World Series.
The Bruins are seeded fourth in the Bellevue Bracket and qualified with an at-large selection following a 36-18 overall record. BU went 15-5 in North Star Athletic Association play, winning the regular season championship before falling in the NSAA Tournament Championship Game.
Science & Arts earned the top seed in the bracket and qualified as the champions of the Sooner Athletic Conference. USAO enters the tournament with an overall record of 34-10 (20-4 SAC) and are ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll.
MidAmerica Nazarene earned the second seed in the bracket and qualified as runner-up in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament. MNU enters the tournament with overall record of 39-14 (23-4 HAAC) and are ranked No. 21 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll.
Concordia earned the third seed in the bracket and qualified as the champions of both the regular season and tournament in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. CUNE enters the tournament with an overall record of 38-9 (21-7 GPAC) and are ranked No. 19 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll.
Saint Xavier earned the fifth seed in the bracket and qualified as the runner-up in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. SXU enters the tournament with an overall record of 32-25 (17-13 CCAC).
Bellevue is making their 23rd National Tournament appearance and 11th Opening Round appearance. In 2019, the Bruins reached the Avista-NAIA World Series for the 14th time in program history, finishing in fifth place with a 2-2 record.
NAIA National Championship Opening Round
Bellevue Bracket | Don Roddy Field
Monday, May 17:
Game 1: #4 Bellevue vs. #5 Saint Xavier, 11 a.m.
Game 2: #2 MidAmerica Nazarene vs. #3 Concordia, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: #1 Science & Arts vs. Winner of Game 1, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 18:
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 19:
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7, 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 20:
Game 9: Same teams as Game 8, noon (If Necessary)