OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University hosts an NAIA Championship Opening-Round Tournament with a spot in the NAIA World Series at stake starting Thursday at Jim Wade Stadium.
Second-ranked OCU, 18th-ranked Fresno Pacific (Calif.), No. 20 Belhaven (Miss.), Texas-Brownsville and Doane (Neb.) comprise the teams in the double-elimination baseball tournament. The championship is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday with an if-necessary game scheduled noon Monday, May 16.
The top-seeded Stars (43-10) will be led by Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year Kirk Walker as well as first-team all-SAC picks left-handed pitcher Rich Hawkins and outfielder Ruben Sosa. OCU, the SAC regular-season champion, will aim for its fourth consecutive World Series berth.
OCU tops the NAIA with 655 hits, 12.358 hits a game and a .977 fielding percentage while ranking second with a .360 team batting average, third with 514 runs scored and 9.698 runs scored a game and fourth with 1.396 home runs per game. The Stars play 6 p.m. Thursday against the winner of the Doane-Texas-Brownsville contest.
No. 2 seed Fresno Pacific boasts of first-team all-Golden State Athletic Conference shortstop Alec Mehrten and right-handed pitcher Jesse Darrah. Fresno Pacific (30-19) finished third in the GSAC and advanced to the Opening Round via an at-large berth. Fresno Pacific takes on Belhaven at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Third seed Belhaven won the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament championship. Jimmy Gilford leads Belhaven (43-16) with a .382 batting average, while Allen Johnson spearheads the Blazers pitching staff with a 6-4 record, 2.69 earned run average and 73 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched.
Fourth seed Texas-Brownsville advanced to the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament title game. Conference pitcher of the year Danny Gidora and first-team all-RRAC outfielder Jorge Camorlinga leads Texas-Brownsville (35-24).
Fifth seeded Doane (36-17) took the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament title to pick up its first Opening Round bid ever. Right-hander Chance Brull leads the NAIA with a 1.07 ERA to go with a 7-1 record and 60 strikeouts in 59 innings.
The nine opening-round tournament winners and host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) will make up the field for the NAIA World Series on May 27-June 3 in Lewiston, Idaho.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under per session. Tournament games will be available via live video at a rate of $9.95 per day.
NAIA Championship Opening Round
Oklahoma City Bracket
At Jim Wade Stadium
Thursday's Games
Game 1: Doane (Neb.) vs. Texas-Brownsville, 11 a.m.
Game 2: Belhaven (Miss.) vs. Fresno Pacific (Calif.), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Oklahoma City, 6 p.m.
Friday's Games
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 6 p.m.
Saturday's Games
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 2:30 p.m., championship
Monday, May 16
Game 9: If necessary, noon
