BU to head to Upland for Opening Round
NAIA Release
Opening Round Schedule/Results
Taylor University Baseball Website
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After qualifying for their 14th-straight NAIA National, the No. 17-ranked Bellevue University baseball team learned its postseason fate on Wednesday afternoon when the NAIA announced the field and brackets for the 2025 NAIA Baseball National Championship.
The Bruins will make their 27th National Tournament all-time when they open play on Monday, May 12 in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round - Upland Bracket.
The 46-team field is set to compete in 10 four- or five-team Opening Round sites around the country from May 12-15. The 10 Opening Round winners will advance to Lewiston, Idaho for the 66th Avista NAIA World Series which will once again be played at Harris Field on the Lewis-Clark State College campus.
Taylor University will be the No. 1 seed and serve as the tournament host of the four-team Upland Bracket. The Bruins will be the No. 2 seed in the Upland Bracket. Kansas Wesleyan University will serve as the No. 3 seed with Grand View University the No. 4 seed to round out the bracket.
All games from the Upland Bracket will be live-streamed via the Taylor Athletic YouTube Channel and live stats will be available on Stat Broadcast.
Taylor (46-9/32-4 CL) will be hosting for the fourth-consecutive year. The Trojans, ranked No. 9 in the Final NAIA Coaches' Poll, won the Crossroads League regular season title to claim their Opening Round bid. After falling in the winner's bracket final of the Crossroads League Tournament, the Trojans won three-straight elimination games, twice defeating Indiana Wesleyan in the championship round to repeat as tournament champions.
Bellevue gained qualification by winning the North Star Athletic Association regular season championship and followed that up by sweeping their way through last week's NSAA Tournament, claiming their fourth-straight conference tournament title and 19th all-time. Bellevue comes into the National Tournament with an overall record of 40-13. The Bruins went 19-1 in NSAA play to win their sixth-straight NSAA regular season title.
Kansas Wesleyan (39-13/30-6 KCAC) secured entry to the National Tournament by winning the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title. The Coyotes, receiving votes in the Final NAIA Coaches' Poll, shared the regular season title with Oklahoma Wesleyan, but OKWU took the automatic bid associated with winning the regular season crown. In the KCAC Tournament, KWU swept through the field, out-scoring their opposing 45-17, defeating Tabor in the Championship Game for their first tournament title since 2022.
Grand View (34-11/26-6 HAAC) earned at at-large bid out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Vikings, receiving votes in the Final NAIA Coaches' Poll, won the Heart regular-season title by a game over tournament champion Central Methodist and MidAmerica Nazarene. Grand View picked up a win in the first round of their conference tournament before dropping consecutive games to Central Methodist and Mount Mercy before sweating out the selection show to earn an at-large bid.
Bellevue has reached the Avista NAIA World Series 16 times in the program's history – all coming since 1995 – and begin their quest for a 17th appearance on Monday, May 12 against third-seeded Kansas Wesleyan.
Bellevue is 28-22 all-time in Opening Round play and won its bracket in 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2023 to reach the Avista NAIA World Series.
NAIA National Tournament Opening Round
Upland Bracket • Winterholter Field • hosted by Taylor University
Monday, May 12
Game 1: #1 Taylor vs #4, Grand View
Game 2: #2 Bellevue vs #3, Kansas Wesleyan
Tuesday, May 13
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs Game 2 Loser, tba
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs Game 2 Winner, tba
Wednesday, May 14
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Loser, tba
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs Game 5 Winner, tba
Thursday, May 15
Game 7: Same teams as Game 6 (if necessary), tba