Baseball Selected as No. 1 Seed in Kingsport Bracket of 2025 NAIA Opening Round

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- The national office announced the 2025 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round locations on Wednesday. The baseball program found out they are returning to Kingsport, Tenn., the location where they just won their 16th Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament Title this past Saturday.  The team nabbed an automatic bid to the opening round by appearing in the 2025 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Baseball Tournament Championship Game.

This marks the 16th consecutive time TWU has qualified for the NAIA Opening Round, and the program is one of only two programs to qualify for every opening round since its inception (LSU Shreveport). 

The NAIA Baseball National Championship Open Round features 46 teams: 30 automatic qualifiers, 15 at-large bids, and one host berth. The 16th annual event takes place May 12-15 at 10 host sites. Six of the sites will feature a five-team, double-elimination tournament; the final four brackets will sport only four squads in the double-elimination format. The winner of each opening round site will advance to the 68th annual Avista NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho on May 23-31. The Bulldogs have advanced to the Avista NAIA World Series seven times.

The path to the World Series begins in the Kingsport Bracket for the Bulldogs. Tennessee Wesleyan was named the No. 1 seed in the bracket. Visit Kingsport is hosting the five-team bracket, and all the games will take place at Hunter Wright Stadium. Joining the Bulldogs in the bracket is the No. 2 seed Cumberland University Phoenix, the No. 3 seed Columbia College (Mo.) Cougars, the No. 4 seed Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech) Warriors, and the No. 5 seed Louisiana Christian University Wildcats. TWU will face the winners of the game between Indiana Tech and Louisiana Christian. 

All games at the Kingsport Bracket will have live stats and a live stream. Live statistics will be done through PrestoStats. All links for live video and live stats can be found at www.twbulldogs.com.

Here is the complete list of teams at the Kingsport Bracket:

No. 1 seed Tennessee Wesleyan (42-11 overall); Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | Schedule | Roster
No. 2 seed Cumberland University (Tenn.) (37-16-1 overall); Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion | Schedule | Roster
No. 3 seed Columbia College (Mo.) (41-9 overall); American Midwest Conference; At-Large | Schedule | Roster
No. 4 seed Indiana Tech (37-19 overall); Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | Schedule | Roster
No. 5 seed Louisiana Christian University (29-24 overall); Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-ups | Schedule | Roster

The tournament schedule for the double-elimination tournament can be seen below (Times TBA; All times EST):

May 12
Game 1 - No. 4 Indiana Tech vs. No. 5 Louisiana Christian- 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 3 Columbia vs. No. 2 Cumberland- 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 - Game 1 winner vs. No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan- 6:00 p.m.

May 13
Game 4 - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser- 11:00 a.m.
Game 5 - Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner- 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner- 6:00 p.m.

May 14
Game 7 - Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner- 11:00 a.m.
Game 8 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner- 2:30 p.m.

May 15
Game 9 - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (If Necessary)- TBD

*Times may be altered due to potential weather delays