The 2022 NAIA baseball tournament was the 65th edition of the NAIA baseball championship. The 46-team tournament began on May 16 with Opening Round games across ten different sites and concluded with the 2022 NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho that began on May 27 and ended on June 3. Southeastern (FL) defeated host Lewis–Clark State 11–5 in a winner-take-all championship for their second title in program history. Lewis–Clark State forced a winner-take-all championship game with a 10–9 victory over Southeastern earlier in the day.
For the first time since the Opening Round format began in 2009, the World Series host would be playing in the Opening Round instead of getting a direct entry into the NAIA World Series. To accommodate the automatic bid for the World Series host in the Opening Round, the tournament field expanded from 45 to 46 teams along with a tenth Opening Round site being added.
The 46 participating teams were selected from all eligible NAIA teams. The World Series host and 30 teams were awarded automatic bids as either champions and/or runners-up of their conferences, and 15 teams were selected at-large by the National Selection Committee. Teams were then placed into one of ten pre-determined Opening Round sites, with six sites consisting of five teams and four sites consisting of four teams, each of which is conducted via a double-elimination tournament. The winners of each of the Opening Round sites participated in the NAIA World Series.
Tournament procedure A total of 46 teams entered the tournament, with Lewis–Clark State receiving an automatic bid into the Opening Round as World Series host. 30 automatic bids were determined by either winning their conference's regular season championship, conference tournament, and/or conference tournament runner-up. The other 15 bids were at-large, with selections determined by the NAIA Baseball National Selection Committee.
Opening round hosts
Venue Location Host(s) Don Roddy Field Bellevue, NE Bellevue University Harrison Field Montgomery, AL Faulkner University Grizzly Baseball Complex Lawrenceville, GA Georgia Gwinnett College Harris Field Lewiston, ID Lewis-Clark State College Pilot Field Shreveport, LA Louisiana State University Shreveport Jim Wade Stadium Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City University Paul Demie Mainieri Field Miami Gardens, FL St. Thomas University (FL) Winterholter Field Upland, IN Taylor University Hunter Wright Stadium Kingsport, TN Visit KingsportAppalachian Athletic Conference Russell Carr Field Santa Barbara, CA Westmont College
Bids Automatic School Conference Record Berth Last NAIA Appearance Antelope Valley (CA) Cal Pac 37–11 Regular season champion 2019 (Santa Barbara Bracket) Bellevue (NE) North Star 45–10 Tournament champion 2021 (Bellevue Bracket) British Columbia Cascade 29–23 Tournament runner-up 2019 (Macon Bracket) Bryan (TN) Appalachian 27–26 Tournament champion 2021 (Lakeland Bracket) Central Methodist (MO) Heart 42–13 Tournament champion 2021 NAIA World Series Concordia (NE) Great Plains 36–15–1 Tournament champion 2021 NAIA World Series Cumberlands (KY) Mid-South 43–14 Tournament champion 2021 (Williamsburg Bracket) Doane (NE) Great Plains 37–12 Regular season champion 2021 (O'Fallon Bracket) Fisher (MA) Continental 29–28 Tournament runner-up 2021 (Lakeland Bracket) Freed–Hardeman (TN) Mid-South 37–15 Tournament runner-up 2021 (Montgomery Bracket) Georgia Gwinnett Continental 41–14 Tournament champion 2021 NAIA World Series Hope International (CA) Golden State 41–13 Tournament champion 2021 (Santa Barbara Bracket) IU–Southeast River States 39–13 Tournament champion 2021 NAIA World Series Judson (IL) Chicagoland 21–28 Tournament runner-up 2018 (Lincoln Bracket) Kansas Wesleyan Kansas 34–27 Tournament champion 2011 (Lubbock Bracket) Lewis-Clark State (ID) Cascade 51–4 World Series host 2021 NAIA World Series LSU–Alexandria Red River 33–14 Tournament champion 2018 (Montgomery Bracket) LSU–Shreveport Red River 47–5 Regular season champion 2021 NAIA World Series Lyon (AR) American Midwest 36–20 Tournament champion 2019 (Williamsburg Bracket) Madonna (MI) Wolverine-Hoosier 27–13 Tournament runner-up 2018 (Kingsport Bracket) MidAmerica Nazarene (KS) Heart 36–16 Tournament runner-up 2021 (Bellevue Bracket) Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH) Crossroads 37–17 Regular season champion 2021 (Kingsport Bracket) Northwestern Ohio Wolverine-Hoosier 37–12 Regular season champion 2021 (Kingsport Bracket) Oklahoma City Sooner 47–4 Tournament champion 2021 (New Orleans Bracket) Olivet Nazarene (IL) Chicagoland 38–15 Regular season champion 2021 (Marion Bracket) Ottawa (KS) Kansas 42–8 Regular season champion 2021 (New Orleans Bracket) Saint Katherine (CA) Cal Pac 31–21 Tournament runner-up 2021 (Santa Barbara Bracket) Southeastern (FL) The Sun 51–3 Tournament champion 2021 NAIA World Series Taylor (IN) Crossroads 39–16 Tournament champion 2018 (Upland Bracket) Tennessee Wesleyan Appalachian 51–5 Tournament champion 2021 (Kingsport Bracket) William Carey (MS) Southern States 37–15 Tournament champion 2021 (O'Fallon Bracket)
At–Large School Conference Record Last NAIA Appearance Columbia (MO) American Midwest 38–12 2021 (Marion Bracket) Faulkner (AL) Southern States 34–15 2021 NAIA World Series Keiser (FL) The Sun 35–20 2021 NAIA World Series Loyola (LA) Southern States 33–22 2021 (New Orleans Bracket) McPherson (KS) Kansas 35–13–1 2021 (O'Fallon Bracket) Middle Georgia State Southern States 30–19–1 2021 (Lakeland Bracket) Point Park (PA) River States 37–14 2021 (Williamsburg Bracket) Reinhardt (GA) Appalachian 35–21 2021 (Williamsburg Bracket) Science & Arts (OK) Sooner 35–13 2021 (Bellevue Bracket) St. Thomas (FL) The Sun 38–17 2021 (Montgomery Bracket) Tabor (KS) Kansas 37–17–1 2017 (Hutchinson Bracket) Vanugard (CA) Golden State 43–13 2021 (Montgomery Bracket) Warner (FL) The Sun 40–16 2021 (Kingsport Bracket) Webber International (FL) The Sun 38–19 2019 (Kingsport Bracket) Westmont (CA) Golden State 42–11 2021 (Santa Barbara Bracket)
Opening Round Source:
Bellevue Bracket Hosted by Bellevue (NE) at Don Roddy Field
Kingsport Bracket Hosted by Visit Kingsport/Appalachian Athletic Conference at Hunter Wright Stadium
Lawrenceville Bracket Hosted by Georgia Gwinnett at Grizzly Baseball Complex
Lewiston Bracket Hosted by Lewis–Clark State (ID) at Harris Field
Miami Gardens Bracket Hosted by St. Thomas (FL) at Paul Demie Mainieri Field
Montgomery Bracket Hosted by Faulkner (AL) at Harrison Field
Oklahoma City Bracket Hosted by Oklahoma City at Jim Wade Stadium
Santa Barbara Bracket Hosted by Westmont (CA) at Russell Carr Field
Shreveport Bracket Hosted by LSU–Shreveport at Pilot Field
Upland Bracket Hosted by Taylor (IN) at Winterholter Field
NAIA World Series The NAIA World Series was held at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
Participants SchoolConferenceRecordHead CoachBracketPrevious NAIAWS AppearancesBest NAIAWS FinishNAIA WSRecord Bellevue (NE) North Star 48–11 Duane Monlux Bellevue 14 1st 25–27 Faulkner (AL) Southern States 37–15 Patrick McCarthy Montgomery 9 1st 20–16 Georgia Gwinnett Continental 37–7 Jeremy Sheetinger Lawrenceville 4 1st 11–8 Lewis–Clark State (ID) Cascade 54–5 Jake Taylor Lewiston 39 1st 147–52 LSU–Shreveport Red River 51–6 Brad Neffendorf Shreveport 4 3rd 9–8 MidAmerica Nazarene (KS) Heart 39–16 Ryan Thompson Oklahoma City none none 0–0 Southeastern (FL) The Sun 54–3 Adrian Dinkel Upland 3 1st 8–4 Tennessee Wesleyan Appalachian 53–6 Billy Berry Kingsport 5 1st 11–8 Webber International (FL) The Sun 41–20 Collin Martin Miami Gardens none none 0–0 Westmont (CA) Golden State 45–11 Robert Ruiz Santa Barbara none none 0–0
Bracket Source:
Preliminary Bracket
Championship Bracket
Game Results All game times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00).
Preliminary Bracket
Championship Bracket
Championship Games First Game
Second Game
See also 2022 NAIA softball tournament 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament 2022 NCAA Division II baseball tournament 2022 NCAA Division III baseball tournament
Notes
References