KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has released the list of host sites for the eighth annual NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, the national office announced Friday. The 45-team event will be played out May 17 – 20 and features nine, five-team double elimination tournaments. Opening Round qualifiers and seeding will be announced May 13.

This year’s hosts include: Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), Davenport (Mich.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, Jamestown (N.D.), Kingsport (Tenn.) Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Tabor (Kan.), USC Beaufort (S.C.), and Westmont (Calif.).

Davenport, Faulkner, Georgia Gwinnett and Kingsport all hosted a 2015 Opening Round. Kingsport is the longest tenured host site among the group, as Hunter Wright Stadium has held the event six times.

Jamestown and Westmont are this year’s new hosts.

Last season, four of the nine hosts won their respective Opening Round. Overall, hosts have won 30-of-63 all-time Opening Rounds. Among active NAIA members, Faulkner and Oklahoma City boast the most Opening Round titles with four each.

The Opening Round site selection process takes into account geography, facilities, student-athlete experience and host qualification. In the event that a selected bid is tied directly to an institution, that school is guaranteed at least an at-large host berth. The application deadline for bids was April 1.

The nine Opening Round champions and World Series host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) make up the field at the 2016 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. The event, which is taking place at Harris Field for the 17th-consecutive season and 25th time overall, is scheduled to run from May 27 – June 3.

For the complete Opening Round schedule, click here.

For more information on the 2016 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series, click here.

2016 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Host Sites