May 12, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The No. 1 seeds performed in dominant fashion as the 2011 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round kicked off at nine locations across the country on Thursday. All nine No. 1 seeds were victorious in their respective brackets, outscoring opponents 93-27. The only top seed that received a scare was California Baptist, who went down to the wire with an 8-7 win over Cal State San Marcos in the Riverside Bracket.

The other storyline of the first day was the success of the No. 3 seeds. Five third-seeded teams grabbed victories over their opponents including: Belhaven (Miss.), Concordia (Calif.), Tennessee Wesleyan, Culver-Stockton (Mo.) and Northwood (Texas).

Four of the six teams making their respective program’s debut in the NAIA baseball postseason added a win to their new resume. Cal State San Marcos, Doane (Neb.), Edward Waters (Fla.) and Iowa Wesleyan each won their first game of the day before losing to the top-seeded team in their respective bracket.

The five-team double-elimination bracket will resume Friday with three games, followed by two games on Saturday and if necessary games on Sunday and Monday.

For the National Championship Opening Round Scoreboard, click here.

Records (through 27 total games):
No. 1 seed record: 9-0
No. 2 seed record: 4-5
No. 3 seed record: 5-4
No. 4 seed record: 4-9
No. 5 seed record: 5-9