EASLEY, S.C. --- The No. 1 Biola Eagles begin their pursuit of an NCCAA World Series Championship in earnest Wednesday when they take on the No. 8-ranked Ottawa (Ariz.) Spirit and No. 5 Concordia Ann Arbor in the first half of pool play.

The Eagles' day kicks off with an 11:00 a.m. (PT) matchup against fellow West Region institution Ottawa (Ariz.), which comes into the tournament with a 24-21 record after winning six of it's last 10 games in the regular season. The Spirit is a first-year program that went 5-5 against other NCCAA West Region teams.

OUAZ is carried by its offense and particular by three hitters who are hitting .320 or better. Second baseman Greg Saenz leads the Spirit in most offensive categories with a .333 average, 22 extra-base hits and 38 RBI. He and catcher/first baseman Josh Meyer were both named to All-West Region teams after Meyer smashed 21 extra-base hits of his own and drove in 35 runs. The Spirit had six players named All-West Region, with three of those players stealing 13 bases or more, so the Eagles would do well to keep them off the base paths.

With all 10 teams guaranteed to play at least four games during pool play, there's no telling how each team will handle their pitching staff in the early going. As a staff, the Spirit's pitchers have allowed over 5.7 runs per game with 62 percent of their runs allowed coming in the fifth inning or later. Despite the fact that Miguel Cirino leads his team in starts (11), strikeouts (58) and batting average against (.211), Cole Anderson is the No. 8 team's ace and may have earned the right to face the No. 1 seed. The Spirit is 9-2 in games Anderson has appeared in, but he has an 8.64 ERA against teams in the NCCAA West Region.

OUAZ has an 8-14 record against teams that finished the season with a winning record and has not played since Apr. 28.

Biola concludes day one by facing the 33-20 Concordia Cardinals at approximately 5:00 p.m. (PT). The Cardinals finished fourth in the NAIA's Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference with a conference record of 16-12 and went 3-5 in games against NAIA Top-25 teams. CUAA went 4-6 over its last 10 games of its NAIA schedule, which concluded May 4, but hit .311 as a team this season and outscored its opponent by over 100 runs in 53 games played.

Concordia Ann Arbor has four hitters who have collected 50 hits and 30 RBI, which basically matches the Eagles' top four hitters (Jacob Portaro has 48 hits this season having played in two fewer games than the Cardinals). Senior infielder Omar Prieto leads the No. 5 seed with a .390 batting average and 47 RBI this season but has just six hits in 26 at-bats against left-handed pitching.

Expect Marshall Oetting to get the ball in the Cardinals' World Series opener against No. 4 Southwestern Christian, leaving Grant Steinborn as the probable starter against Biola in the night game. Steinborn is 6-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 12 games (eight starts) and pounds the strike zone. He's only allowed just nine walks in 50.2 innings but has struck out just 26 batters. Following Oetting's 60 strikeouts, no other Cardinals pitcher has fanned more than 28 batters.

Oklahoma Baptist has won each of the past two NCCAA World Series but is no longer an NCCAA member now that OBU is a full-fledged member of the NCAA DII Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Bison's winning formula consisted of winning the first three games of each World Series to qualify for the semifinals and included at least one 10-run rule win during pool play to preserve their pitching. The NCCAA allows pool play games to be called after seven innings if one team is winning by 10 runs or more.

The Eagles have the most pitching depth of any team in the field after having played four-game weekend series all year long in the PacWest. But getting some help from the offense to save all the energy you can for the one-game semifinals and finals is always a plus. The Eagles would put themselves in a very good spot for the rest of the tournament if their able to win two and/or have a run-rule win on Wednesday.

Links to the broadcast portal and live stats for both of Wednesday's games can be found on the Biola Athletics homepage or on the baseball schedule page.