No. 21 IU Southeast draws No. 3 seed in Kingsport Bracket of NAIA Baseball Opening Rd
No. 21 IU Southeast draws No. 3 seed in Kingsport Bracket of NAIA Baseball Opening Rd
KINGSPORT BRACKET INFO PAGE
By IU Southeast Sports Information
NEW ALBANY, Ind. - The IU Southeast baseball team is going to Kingsport, Tenn., for the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, which begins May 15 around the country.
The No. 21-ranked Grenadiers (45-13) earned an at-large bid to the tournament after winning more than 40 regular-season games for the first time against a tough schedule of competition. IU Southeast is the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 2 seed Tennessee Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m. on May 15.
No.10-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan (39-18) is the Appalachian Athletic Conference's Tournament Champion. TWC ranks No. 2 in the NAIA with 1.6 home runs per game and a .539 slugging percentage which ranks No. 6 in the NAIA.
The No. 1 seed in the Kingsport Bracket is Keiser (Fla.) University which is ranked No. 5 in the NAIA Baseball Top 25 Poll. The Seahawks (39-18) were an at-large selection to the tournament. They rank No. 12 in the NAIA with a 3.74 ERA.
The No. 4 seed is Talladega (Ala.). The Tornadoes (36-22) earned a bid as the runner-up in the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament. Kyle Chavez ranks No. 1 in the NAIA with 13 wins.
Rounding out the bracket is No. 5 Marian (Ind.). The Knights (29-21) were the Crossroads League Tournament Runner-Up. Marian ranks No. 20 in the NAIA with a .964 fielding percentage.
The winner of No. 3 IU Southeast versus No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan will play the winner of No. 1 Keiser versus the No. 4-5 winner on May 16. The tournament continues through May 18 and is being hosted by the Kingsport Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Appalachian Athletic Conference.