LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The Biola University baseball team has earned the No. 13 overall seed in the NAIA Tournament and will be traveling to Joliet, Illinois, for the NAIA Opening Round Tournament which begins Thursday, May 12 at Silver Cross Field just outside of Chicago.
The Eagles (36-20) are the second seed in the five-team Opening Round tournament which is hosted by the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the University of St. Francis (Ill.) and the Joliet Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The Opening Round site is one of nine across the country. The winners of each tournament along with host Lewis-Clark State College advance to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, May 27 - June 3.
All of Biola's games will be broadcast free through the Biola Athletics website by visiting
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/biola.portal.
The University of St. Francis (39-11), which also plays its home games at Silver Cross Field, earned the No. 3 seed after winning the CCAC Tournament last week and will be Biola's first opponent in the tournament. The Fighting Saints made an impressive run through the conference tournament, winning its final two games in dramatic fashion to take home the title and the automatic berth to the NAIA tournament. St. Francis is the only team in the Joliet Bracket which has won an NAIA Title, that coming back in 1993.
The top seed in the tournament is No. 4 team in the country, Oklahoma Baptist University. The Bison (42-12) finished as the runners-up in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament to earn an automatic berth to the NAIA tournament. It is just the third trip to the NAIA Tournament for OBU and the first since the Opening Round began in 2009.
Robert Morris University earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament by virtue of winning the CCAC regular-season title. The Colonials lost their two games in the CCAC tournament, but enter the NAIA Opening Round with a record of 37-17 and are making their second-straight trip to the NAIA Opening Round.
Rounding out the tournament field is the No. 5 seed Jamestown College (N.D.). The Jimmies finished the season with a 31-11-1 record, winning the Dakota Athletic Conference Tournament via an 11th-inning walk-off home run in the championship game. Jamestown is making its third-straight appearance in the opening round and fifth NAIA appearance overall.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Thursday, May 12 – Session I
Game 1 – No. 4 Robert Morris vs. No. 5 Jamestown (ND) --- 11 a.m.
Game 2 – No. 2 Biola (CA) vs. No. 3 St. Francis --- 3 p.m.
Game 3 – No. 1 Oklahoma Baptist vs. Game 1 Winner --- 7 p.m.
Friday, May 13 – Session II
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser --- 11 a.m.
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner --- 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser --- 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 14 – Session III
Game 7 – Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner --- 11 p.m.
Game 8 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner --- 2:30 p.m.
TBD (Sunday, May 15 or Monday, May 16) – Session IV
Game 9 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (if necessary) --- TBA
(All Times Central Standard Time)
The tournament will be played at Silver Cross Field in downtown Joliet. The $27 million facility which is the home field of the University of St. Francis Fighting Saints opened in 2002. It is also the home to the Joliet Slammers, a semi-pro team which plays in the Frontier League. Silver Cross Field has a seating capacity of just over 6,000 and was recently rated the second-best ballpark amont the 66 teams competing in the indepedent-league level.
Biola is making its second appearance in the NAIA Opening Round and is 1-2 in its previous appearance in 2009. The Eagles are one of four GSAC teams in the 45-team field. California Baptist is hosting the Riverside Bracket which GSAC Tournament champion Concordia is also playing at. Fresno Pacific is headed to the Oklahoma City Bracket.
