Rio Grande, IU Southeast get bids to NAIA Baseball Opening Round

5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM

KANSANS CITY, Mo. -- KIAC Tournament champion the University of Rio Grande and KIAC regular-season champion IU Southeast received their bids to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round with the annnouncement on the NAIA Baseball Selection Show Friday.

Rio Grande (37-23) received the No. 5 seed in the Kingsport (Tenn.) Bracket and will face No. 4 Indiana Tech in the first round May 17.

IU Southeast (42-13), ranked No. 19 in the latest NAIA Baseball Top 25 Poll, received an at-large bid and got the No. 2 seed in the Lawrenceville (Ga.) Bracket. The Grenadiers will face No. 3 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in the first round.

Below are capsules from Rio Grande and IU Southeast sports information. For the complete bracket, pairings and sites of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, click the NAIA Release link above.

RIO GRANDE RECEIVES NO. 5 SEED IN KINGSPORT BRACKET WITH AUTOMATIC BID
(By Rio Grande Sports Information)
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande baseball team is hoping that a second trip to the hills of east Tennessee will be as successful as the first.
After capturing the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship just over a week ago in Kingsport, Tenn., the RedStorm are headed back to Hunter Wright Stadium for the 2016 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
The pairings for the nine, five-team regional sites in the first round of the national tournament were announced Friday afternoon by the NAIA national office.
The fifth-seeded RedStorm (37-23) will face No. 4 seed Indiana Tech (39-18) on Tuesday, May 17, at 11 a.m., with the winner facing top-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan (45-12) in Tuesday's 6 p.m. finale, following the 2:30 p.m. tilt between No. 2 seed Middle Georgia State (39-16) and third-seeded St. Thomas (Fla.) (35-20).
The winner's bracket final and a pair of elimination games are slated for Wednesday, May 18, while the loser's bracket final and the championship first final are scheduled for Thursday, May 19 and a second final, if necessary - will take place on Friday, May 20.
Rio Grande punched its ticket to the double-elimination tournament on May 7 by winning the KIAC tournament title with a 6-1 win over top-seeded and 19th-ranked Indiana University-Southeast - the 10th win for head coach Brad Warnimont's team in their last 11 outings.
IU Southeast also made the tournament field, which includes 31 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large selections.
For the second straight season, at-large teams were determined by a National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council (NAC) Rules and Ratings Committee, the president of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
Rio Grande is making its second consecutive trip - and third overall - to the national tourney. The RedStorm also made the field in 2010 as the champion of the Mid-South Conference.
The RedStorm posted a 3-2 record in Opening Round play last season, falling to host Embry-Riddle (Fla.) in the championship game. Rio recorded wins over Southeastern (Fla.), top-seeded Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) and Bryan (Tenn.).
Of the 45 schools comprising this year's tournament field, 23 are making repeat appearances and seven are first-time participants.
The nine regional winners will join host Lewis-Clark State in the 60th Annual Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series, which is slated for May 27-June 3, in Lewiston, Idaho.

IU SOUTHEAST GETS NO. 2 SEED IN LAWRENCEVILLE BRACKET WITH AT-LARGE BID
(By IU Southeast Sports Information)
NEW ALBANY, Ind. – The No. 19-ranked IU Southeast baseball team earned a No. 2 seed in the opening round of the 2016 NAIA Baseball Championship and will travel to Lawrenceville, Ga. for the first round contests.

The 45-team event will be played out May 17 – 20 and features nine, five-team double elimination tournaments.

The Grenadiers (42-13) will face No. 3 seed Lindsey Wilson at 2:30 p.m. on May 17. IU Southeast defeated the Blue Raiders in both meetings this season, 3-2 at Lindsey Wilson on March 29 and a 5-4 home win on April 5.

Joining IU Southeast and Lindsey Wilson in the Lawrenceville Bracket are the top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are 55-4 and are riding a 13-game winning streak. They earned an automatic bid as the Unaffiliated Group Tournament Champion.

No. 3 seed Lindsey Wilson earned an at-large berth in the tournament. The Blue Raiders are 37-22 and lost a 10-2 decision to Campbellsville in the Mid-South Conference Championship game. Lindsey Wilson is receiving votes in this week's NAIA Coaches' Poll.

Olivet Nazarene (39-15) is the No. 4 seed in the bracket. The Tigers earned an automatic bid as regular-season champions of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Rounding out the bracket is the University of British Columbia. The Thunderbirds (38-20) earned an automatic bid as the regular season runner-up in the NAIA West Group.

The Lawrenceville Bracket Tournament Central page can be found here.