Baseball 4/15/2013 5:08:00 PM

NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round comes to OCU

Five teams compete for World Series berth May 9-13 at Jim Wade Stadium

Jim Wade Stadium will play host to an NAIA Baseball Championship Opening-Round Tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University will seek its sixth consecutive trip to the NAIA World Series on May 9-13 at Jim Wade Stadium after being selected as one of the nine host sites for the NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round for the fifth consecutive year.
The NAIA Championship Opening Round features nine five-team double-elimination tournaments with berths in the NAIA World Series at stake. The 45 qualifiers and brackets for the National Championship Opening Round will be announced on May 5.
OCU also co-hosts the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament with Oklahoma Baptist on May 1-4 with the league tournament title game May 4 at Jim Wade Stadium. The Stars (37-8, 17-3 SAC) are ranked second nationally and come off a four-game sweep of fifth-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas).
“It's going to be a tough dogfight between those five teams all year long – us, Rogers State, Lubbock Christian, Oklahoma Baptist and USAO,” OCU coach Denney Crabaugh said of the conference race. “We're exactly where we want to be right now, No. 1 in the conference, and it's up to us to stay there.”
Oklahoma City, Lee (Tenn.) and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) headline the group of hosts, each hosting its fifth straight Opening Round. All three host teams have advanced to the NAIA World Series in each of the four previous seasons.
This year's first-time hosts are Faulkner (Ala.), Rogers State and The Master's (Calif.).
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and William Carey (Miss.) round out the remainder of the Opening-Round sites. Both the AAC and CCAC are hosting for the third time, while William Carey is holding the event for the second time.
The Opening-Round site selection process takes into account geography, facilities, student-athlete experience and host qualification. In the event that a selected bid is tied directly to an institution, that school is guaranteed at least an at-large host berth in the Opening Round. The application deadline for bids was April 1.
The nine Opening-Round champions join host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) to make up the field at the 2013 Avista-NAIA World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho on May 24-31.
OCU plays next against Wayland Baptist (Texas) in a 3 p.m. twin bill Friday in Plainview, Texas. The Stars added a game vs. Texas Wesleyan at 4 p.m. April 22 at Jim Wade Stadium.

2013 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Host Sites
Host                                                           Facility                            Host City
Appalachian Athletic Conference                 Hunter Wright Stadium      Kingsport, Tenn.
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Silver Cross Field             Joliet, Ill.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) Sliwa Stadium                  Daytona Beach, Fla.
Faulkner University (Ala.)                             Harrison Field                  Montgomery, Ala.
Lee University (Tenn.)                                  Olympic Field                  Cleveland, Tenn.
Oklahoma City                                            Jim Wade Stadium           Oklahoma City
Rogers State University (Okla.)                    Diamond Sports Complex    Claremore, Okla.
The Master's College (Calif.)                        Reese Field                     Santa Clarita, Calif.
William Carey University                              Milton Wheeler Field         Hattiesburg, Miss.

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