May 14, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Four teams have advanced to the 2011 Avista-NAIA World Series after winning their respective brackets in the Baseball National Championship Opening Round tournaments Saturday. Top seeds Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Oklahoma City and Lubbock Christian (Texas) and Concordia (Calif.) will join host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) from May 27 - June 3 in Lewiston, Idaho.

Oklahoma City clinched a bid to the 2011 Avista-NAIA World Series by shutting out Belhaven (Miss.) 15-0 in the championship game of the Oklahoma City Bracket. The Stars will be making their fourth-consecutive trip to the World Series with the win.

Third-seeded Concordia (Calif.) secured a spot in the World Series with a 4-2 win over Golden State Athletic Conference foe and top-seeded California Baptist in the title game of the Riverside (Calif.) Bracket. The Eagles, who lost all four regular-season meetings to the Lancers, won back-to-back games against CBU for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

Top-seeded Lubbock Christian (Texas) qualified for the World Series by defeating Kansas Wesleyan 10-3 in the championship game of the Lubbock (Texas) Bracket. The Chaparrals, who will be making their third-straight appearance, went 3-0 in the Opening Round and outscored their opponents 26-5.

In the final game of the night, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) took down Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 8-2 in the Daytona Beach (Fla.) Bracket. With the victory, the top-seeded Eagles became the fourth team to punch their ticket to the World Series on Saturday.

Weather postponed the championship game for the Joliet (Ill.) Bracket and will resume on Sunday at Noon, EDT. Top-seeded Oklahoma Baptist leads 2-0 with one out in the bottom of the second inning. In addition to the Joliet Bracket, the Paducah (Ky.), Montgomery (Ala.) and Cleveland (Tenn.) Brackets will crown their respective winners on Sunday.

Top-seeded Union (Ky.) was the only team to force a second championship game, defeating second-seeded Faulkner (Ala.) in the Kingsport (Tenn.) Bracket. The rematch is set for Monday at Noon, EDT.

For the National Championship Opening Round Scoreboard, click here.