Baseball Opening Round Qualifiers Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 45 qualifiers for the 2012 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round on Sunday. The tournament will take place at nine different sites around the country May 10 - 14. Each site will feature a five-team double-elimination tournament with the winners joining host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at the 56th annual Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, on May 25 - June 1. The seeding and brackets for the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round will be announced Sunday by 6 p.m. CDT.
Twenty-nine teams earned automatic berths to the 45-team Opening Round field by winning their respective conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments or regular-season championships. An additional 16 at-large selections - determined by the final NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll released Sunday - round out the field.
Among the 45 teams selected, 15 will make their respective program's debut in the Opening Round. Newcomers include: Arizona Christian, Asbury (Ky.), Bacone (Okla.), Dakota State (S.D.), Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), Georgetown (Ky.), Judson (Ill.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Menlo (Calif.), Peru State (Neb.), Point Park (Pa.), Siena Heights (Mich.), Shorter (Ga.), Sterling (Kan.) and Tabor (Kan.).
Ten squads are playing in their fourth-straight Opening Round. Lee (Tenn.) and Oklahoma City are a perfect 9-0 in four trips, while defending champion Concordia (Calif.) and Oklahoma Baptist are also undefeated, going 3-0 in Opening Round games a year ago.
Six qualifiers have previously won a World Series title, led by Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) with 16. The Warriors own a championship record mark of 119-37 in 30 previous appearances. Lubbock Christian (Texas), who enters the tournament with two banners, is the only other team in the field with multiple national titles.
2012 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Qualifiers| School | Qualification | Record^ | OR Appearances | OR Record | WS Appearances | WS Record | Titles |
| Arizona Christian | Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Champion | 33-21 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Asbury (Ky.) | Unaffiliated Group No. 1 Tournament Champion | 18-37 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | At-Large No. 5 | 36-22 | 3 | 5-4 | 3 | 8-6 | 0 |
| Avila (Mo.) | Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion | 39-14 | 2 | 0-2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Azusa Pacific (Calif.) | At-Large No. 2 | 44-10 | 2 | 3-2 | 5 | 10-10 | 0 |
| Bacone (Okla.) | Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 28-23 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Bellevue (Neb.) | At-Large No. 11 | 39-19 | 3 | 2-4 | 12 | 20-23 | 1 |
| Biola (Calif.) | At-Large No. 15 | 26-27 | 3 | 3-4 | 3 | 3-6 | 0 |
| Campbellsville (Ky.) | At-Large No. 12 | 36-16 | 4 | 6-5 | 1 | 0-2 | 0 |
| College of Idaho | At-Large No. 13 | 38-18 | 2 | 1-2 | 4 | 13-7 | 1 |
| Concordia (Calif.) | Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 37-16 | 2 | 3-0 | 2 | 6-3 | 1 |
| Dakota State (S.D.) | Association of Independent Institutions Tournament Runner-Up | 28-26 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Doane (Neb.) | Great Plains Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion | 33-19 | 2 | 1-2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | The Sun Conference Regular-Season Champion | 40-16 | 4 | 9-1 | 10 | 17-20 | 0 |
| Faulkner (Ala.) | Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 49-11 | 3 | 3-3 | 1 | 0-2 | 0 |
| Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | At-Large No. 8 | 36-21 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Georgetown (Ky.) | Mid-South Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 45-9 | First | 0-0 | 1 | 2-2 | 0 |
| Grand View (Iowa) | Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion | 27-27 | 2 | 0-2 | 3 | 1-6 | 0 |
| Indiana Tech | At-Large No. 9 | 39-20 | 4 | 5-6 | 6 | 10-12 | 0 |
| Judson (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular-Season Champion | 46-12 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Lee (Tenn.) | Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 50-8-1 | 4 | 9-0 | 6 | 15-12 | 0 |
| Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | World Series Host Berth | 39-12 | -- | -- | 31 | 119-37 | 16 |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | At-Large No. 3 | 41-14 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| LSU Shreveport (La.) | Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 48-4 | 4 | 5-4 | 2 | 5-4 | 0 |
| Lubbock Christian (Texas) | Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-Up | 33-20 | 4 | 9-2 | 10 | 23-18 | 2 |
| Menlo (Calif.) | Unaffiliated Group No. 2 Tournament Champion | 27-25 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Missouri Baptist | American Midwest Conference Tournament Champion | 37-14 | 3 | 1-4 | -- | -- | -- |
| Mount Marty (S.D.) | Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 26-26 | 2 | 4-2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) | Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Champion | 33-18 | 2 | 3-4 | 2 | 3-4 | 0 |
| Oklahoma Baptist | Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 46-12 | 2 | 3-0 | 3 | 3-6 | 0 |
| Oklahoma City | At-Large No. 1 | 43-9 | 4 | 9-0 | 13 | 32-25 | 1 |
| Peru State (Neb.) | Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 35-16 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Point Park (Pa.) | At-Large No. 4 | 48-9 | First | 0-0 | 10 | 10-20 | 0 |
| Rogers State (Okla.) | At-Large No. 10 | 42-14 | 2 | 0-2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Siena Heights (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 31-23 | First | 0-0 | 1 | 0-2 | -- |
| Shorter (Ga.) | At-Large No. 7 | 37-17 | First | 0-0 | -- | -- | -- |
| South Carolina Beaufort | At-Large No. 6 | 35-16 | 2 | 1-2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Southern Poly (Ga.) | At-Large No. 16 | 35-23 | 4 | 6-4 | 2 | 2-4 | 0 |
| St. Francis (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 37-15 | 3 | 4-4 | 8 | 18-14 | 1 |
| St. Thomas (Fla.) | The Sun Conference Tournament Champion | 43-12 | 3 | 4-4 | 4 | 3-8 | 0 |
| Sterling (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 43-12 | First | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Tabor (Kan.) | At-Large No. 14 | 41-13 | First | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Taylor (Ind.) | Mid-Central College Conference Regular-Season Champion | 37-18 | 3 | 2-4 | 1 | 1-2 | 0 |
| Tennessee Wesleyan | Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 45-11 | 4 | 9-4 | 2 | 0-4 | 0 |
| Union (Tenn.) | TranSouth Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 37-17 | 4 | 2-6 | 1 | 3-2 | 0 |
| York (Neb.) | Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champion | 39-17 | 2 | 2-2 | -- | -- | -- |
