KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced Wednesday that Bellevue University will be one of nine locations to host the NAIA Baseball National Opening Round. The 45-team tournament will be played May 12-15 and features a nine, five-team double elimination format.
As a host site, Bellevue receives an automatic berth to the opening round. The NAIA will announce the other qualifiers and seeding May 8.
The Bruins will host the tournament at Roddy Field on the campus of Bellevue East High School.
Bellevue is joined by Davenport University (Mich.), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.), Faulkner University (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett College, Kingsport (Tenn.) Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma City University, and The Master's College (Calif.).
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 join World Series host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) to make up the field at the 2015 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho. The event is slated to run from May 22 – 29.
