KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the 2010 NAIA Baseball Opening Round pairings and seedings. 45 teams at nine hosts sites comprised of five teams each will play a double elimination tournament from May 18-21 for the chance to advance to the Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
The NAIA No. 8 Embry-Riddle Eagles are one of the nine #1 seeds, as well as being one of the nine host sites. The other four participants in the Daytona Beach group are: Faulkner (Ala.), Rio Grande (Ohio), Union (Ky.) and St. Thomas (Fla.).
Each site will feature a five-team double elimination tournament. The first game pits the No. 4 and the No. 5 seed, with the winner facing the No. 1 seed in the first day’s third and final game. The second game of the day lists the No. 2 versus the No. 3 seed.
The winners of those nine National Championship Opening Round tournaments, in addition to World Series host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), will meet at the final site of the 54th Annual Avista-NAIA World Series from May 28-June 4 in Lewiston, Idaho. The 10-team, official bracket for the Avista-NAIA World Series will be announced by 7 p.m. CDT on May 21.
This year's field is comprised of 32 automatic qualifiers from NAIA affiliated conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and unaffiliated groupings and 14 at-larges, which were determined using the final Top 25 rating released on Wednesday.
Embry-Riddle (41-16) is competing in its' ninth NAIA National Championship with a 16-16 overall record. The Eagles were the regular season and tournament champions of The Sun Conference.
Faulkner (39-19) is the second-seeded team at Daytona Beach, and they are making their first ever trip to a National Tournament in baseball. Faulkner earned the sixth at-large bid to qualify for the tournament.
Rio Grande (47-11) will be the No. 3 seed at the Opening Round after they claimed the Mid-South Tournament Championship. The Red Storm is also making its' first trip to the Opening Round.
Union (38-16) is making its' second consecutive trip to Daytona Beach to participate in the Opening Round. The Bulldogs earned the last at-large spot in the field of 45.
St. Thomas (30-29) is 3-8 all-time in the NAIA National Championship in four appearances. The Bobcats earned the second automatic bid given to The Sun Conference by finishing as the runner-up to Embry-Riddle in the conference tournament.