The 2017 NAIA baseball tournament was the 61st edition of the NAIA baseball championship. The 46-team tournament began on May 15 with Opening Round games across nine different sites and concluded with the 2017 NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho that began on May 26 and ended on June 2. In a rematch of the previous year's championship game, Lewis–Clark State (ID) defeated Faulkner (AL) 6–4 in a winner-take-all championship game for their third straight title and their 19th title in program history. Faulkner forced a winner-take-all championship with a 6–5 victory over Lewis–Clark State the night before.
The 46 participating teams were selected from all eligible NAIA teams with the World Series host receiving an automatic bid to the NAIA World Series. The remaining 45 teams participated in the Opening Round with 30 teams being 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 nine pre-determined Opening Round sites of five teams a piece, each of which is conducted via a double-elimination tournament. The winners of each of the Opening Round sites plus the World Series host team participated in the NAIA World Series.
Tournament procedure A total of 46 teams entered the tournament. As World Series host, Lewis–Clark State received an automatic bid into the NAIA World Series. 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 On May 1, the NAIA announced the nine opening round host sites, which were played from May 15–18.
Venue(s) Location(s) Host(s) Don Roddy Field Bellevue, NE Bellevue University Harrison Field Montgomery, AL Faulkner University Grizzly Baseball Field Lawrenceville, GA Georgia Gwinnett College Hunter Wright Stadium Kingsport, TN Kingsport CVBAppalachian Athletic Conference St. Rita's Sports Complex Lima, OH University of Northwestern Ohio Jim Wade Stadium Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City University Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium Bartlesville, OK Oklahoma Wesleyan University Hobart-Detter FieldRice Field Hutchinson, KS Tabor College Milton Wheeler Field Hattiesburg, MS William Carey University
Bids Automatic School Conference Record Berth Last NAIA Appearance Antelope Valley (CA) Cal Pac 36–16 Regular season champion First appearance Bellevue (NE) North Star 49–9 Regular season champion 2016 NAIA World Series Clarke (IA) Heart 45–12 Tournament runner-up 2016 (Grand Rapids Bracket) College of Idaho NAIA West Group 24–28 Tournament champion 2016 (Santa Barbara Bracket) Concordia (NE) Great Plains 33–20 Regular season champion First appearance Cumberlands (KY) Mid-South 42–13 Tournament champion First appearance Davenport (MI) Wolverine-Hoosier 41–15 Tournament runner-up 2016 (Grand Rapids Bracket) Faulkner (AL) Southern States 47–10 Tournament champion 2016 NAIA World Series Georgia Gwinnett A.I.I. 38–19 Tournament champion 2016 (Lawrenceville Bracket) Huntington (IN) Crossroads 33–11 Regular season champion 2011 (Montgomery Bracket) Judson (IL) Chicagoland 37–18 Regular season champion 2015 (Kingsport Bracket) Lewis-Clark State (ID) NAIA West Group 35–15 World Series host 2016 NAIA World Series LSU–Alexandria Red River 33–22 Regular season champion 2015 (Kingsport Bracket) LSU–Shreveport Red River 38–19 Tournament champion 2016 (Montgomery Bracket) Lyon (AR) American Midwest 34–22 Tournament champion 2015 (Montgomery Bracket) Marian (IN) Crossroads 29–21 Tournament runner-up First appearance Mayville State (ND) North Star 46–10 Tournament champion 2016 (Hutchinson Bracket) MidAmerica Nazarene (KS) Heart 34–18 Tournament champion 2015 (Shawnee Bracket) Midland (NE) Great Plains 40–18 Tournament champion 2016 (Jamestown Bracket) Midway (KY) River States 28–28 Tournament champion First appearance Missouri Baptist American Midwest 41–14 Tournament champion 2016 (Jamestown Bracket) Northwestern Ohio Wolverine-Hoosier 43–10 Regular season champion 2015 (Santa Clarita Bracket) Oklahoma City Sooner 45–8 Tournament champion 2015 (Oklahoma City Bracket) Oklahoma Wesleyan Kansas 48–9 Regular season champion 2015 (Grand Rapids Bracket) Southeastern (FL) The Sun 48–9 Tournament champion 2015 (Daytona Beach Bracket) St. Ambrose (IA) Chicagoland 28–23 Tournament champion First appearance Tabor (KS) Kansas 41–15 Tournament runner-up 2016 (Hutchinson Bracket) Talladega (AL) A.I.I. 36–22 Tournament runner-up 2014 (Daytona Beach Bracket) Tennessee Wesleyan Appalachian 39–18 Tournament champion 2016 NAIA World Series The Master's (CA) Golden State 35–21 Tournament champion 2016 NAIA World Series Truett McConnell (GA) Appalachian 31–26 Tournament runner-up First appearance
At–Large School Conference Record Last NAIA Appearance Bryan (TN) Appalachian 37–18 2015 (Daytona Beach Bracket) Campbellsville (KY) Mid-South 33–19 2016 (Savannah Bracket) Central Methodist (MO) Heart 42–16 2016 (Faulkner Bracket) Friends (KS) Kansas 31–20 2014 (Shawnee Bracket) Hope International (CA) Golden State 32–15 First appearance IU–Southeast River States 45–13 2016 (Lawrenceville Bracket) Indiana Tech Wolverine-Hoosier 41–12 2016 (Kingsport Bracket) Jamestown (ND) North Star 40–19 2016 (Jamestown Bracket) Keiser (FL) The Sun 39–18 2016 (Montgomery Bracket) Middle Georgia State Southern States 43–14 2016 (Kingsport Bracket) Science & Arts (OK) Sooner 41–15 2016 NAIA World Series St. Thomas (FL) The Sun 35–17 2016 (Kingsport Bracket) Texas Wesleyan Sooner 45–13 2016 (Faulkner Bracket) Webber International (FL) The Sun 38–15 First appearance William Carey (MS) Southern States 33–23 2016 (Santa Barbara Bracket)
Opening Round Source:
Bartlesville Bracket Hosted by Oklahoma Wesleyan at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium
Bellevue Bracket Hosted by Bellevue (NE) at Don Roddy Field
Hattiesburg Bracket Hosted by William Carey (MS) at Milton Wheeler Field
Hutchinson Bracket Hosted by Tabor (KS) at Hobart-Detter Field and Rice Field
Kingsport Bracket Hosted by Kingsport CVB & Appalachian Athletic Conference at Hunter Wright Stadium
Lawrenceville Bracket Hosted by Georgia Gwinnett at Grizzly Baseball Field
Lima Bracket Hosted by Northwestern Ohio at St. Rita's Sports Complex
Montgomery Bracket Hosted by Faulkner (AL) at Harrison Field
Oklahoma City Bracket Hosted by Oklahoma City at Jim Wade Stadium
NAIA World Series The NAIA World Series was held at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
Participants SchoolConferenceRecordHead CoachBracketPrevious NAIAWS AppearancesBest NAIAWS FinishNAIA WSRecord Faulkner (AL) Southern States 50–10 Patrick McCarthy Montgomery 5 1st 13–8 Hope International (CA) Golden State 35–16 Erich Pfohl Lima none none 0–0 Keiser (FL) The Sun 42–19 Jeremy Kennedy Kingsport none none 0–0 Lewis–Clark State (ID) NAIA West Group(Frontier) 35–13 Jeremiah Robbins n/a 35 1st 137–45 Missouri Baptist American Midwest 44–14 Eddie Uschold Hutchinson 1 T-5th 2–2 Oklahoma City Sooner 44–8 Denney Crabaugh Oklahoma City 14 1st 33–27 Oklahoma Wesleyan Kansas 51–10 Mike Parker Bartlesville 1 3rd 3–2 Science & Arts (OK) Sooner 44–15 Mike Ross Bellevue 1 T-9th 0–2 The Master's (CA) Golden State 39–21 Monte Brooks Lawrenceville 3 T-3rd 4–6 William Carey (MS) Southern States 42–18 Bobby Halford Hattiesburg 2 1st 4–3
Bracket Preliminary Bracket
Championship Bracket
Game Results All game times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00).
Preliminary Bracket
Championship Bracket
Championship Games Game 1
Game 2
See also 2017 NAIA softball tournament 2017 NCAA Division I baseball tournament 2017 NCAA Division II baseball tournament 2017 NCAA Division III baseball tournament
References