TOURNEY CENTRAL | GAME ONE STREAM | GAME ONE LIVESTATS

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Bushnell University is set to start play bright and early Monday morning in the first game of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
 
The five-team field in the Lawrenceville Bracket is hosted at Georgia Gwinnett College and will play in a double-elimination tournament. The winner will advance to the 2024 Avista NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, hosted by Lewis-Clark State. That event runs from May 24-31.  
 
The Beacons were selected as the four-seed and will take on Louisiana Christian University, the five-seed, on Monday at 6:00 a.m. Pacific time for game one of the double-elimination tournament. The winner will play another game on Monday, taking on tournament host and No. 2-ranked team in the nation, Georgia Gwinnett at 4:00 p.m. (PT). On the other end of the bracket sit No. 3-seed and (RV) Ottawa University of Arizona facing off against the No. 2-seed Faulkner University from Montgomery, Alabama.
 
#5 LOUISIANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (32-19)
 
Bushnell's first opponent will be the Wildcats of Louisiana Christian University. The Wildcats qualified for the tournament as the fifth seed in the bracket after winning the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
Bushnell boasts quite a few similarities with LCU, who finished in fifth place in the RRAC with a conference record of 17-13, and much like the Beacons, went on to garner a stunning tournament championship after toppling LSU-Shreveport twice. It was their first wins over the NAIA's No.-4 ranked team in 15 years, gave them their first tournament title, and welcomed them to the NAIA "regional" round of the national tournament for the first time since 1987.
 
As a team, The Wildcats picked up three NAIA Top-25 wins during the season and are hitting .317. Their club average 5.48 ERA comes with 399 strikeouts, or 8.8 per nine innings.
 
The Wildcats are led by three players who were honored by the Red River Athletic Conference. Tyler McKenna was named Newcomer of the Year and a First Team selection at catcher, Harrison Waxley claimed Freshman of the Year, Braxton Cooksey found himself on the Second Team as a utility man. McKenna is one of the most fearsome hitters in all of the NAIA, ranked sixth nationally with a .458 batting average and eighth regarding on-base percentage at a healthy .559 clip, both of which led the RRAC.
 
#1 GEORGIA GWINNETT UNIVERSITY (47-6)
 
The Grizzlies are the No. 2 ranked team in the NAIA and have earned it, bringing a 13-game winning streak into the national tournament after rolling through the Continental Athletic Conference (independents) tournament with scores of 27-1, 5-2, and 13-0.
 
The have some video-game like numbers in their statistical profile, fueled in large part to 18 victories against teams with a .376 combined winning percentage where they out-scored their opponents by an average score of 19-2. Within those games they scored 34 or more runs three times.
 
Without those games they are still very formidable with 16 wins against 2024 tournament teams. In fact, of their six losses only two were against teams not in the Opening Round field.
The Grizzlies are batting .386 as a team and have scored 707 runs (13.3 per game). They have 86 home runs and have stolen an eye-gouging 296 bases (5.5 per game). The also boast a team ERA of 3.48 and have struck out 11.8 batters per nine innings.
 
#2 FAULKNER UNIVERSITY (35-15)
 
Faulkner is the No. 15-ranked team in the NAIA and earned an at-large bid out of the Southern States Athletic Conference. The Eagles are making their 13th trip to the NAIA tournament.
 
Faulkner won the Southern States Athletic Conference regular season championship with a record of 22-8, but were upset by eighth-seed Blue Mountain Christian College in the SSAC tournament and did not make it to the championship game to claim an automatic berth.
 
Like the Beacons, Faulkner owns six wins over NAIA Top-25 teams this season. They are batting .306 as a team and are averaging just under eight runs per game. The have an ERA of 5.75 and are striking out 9.3 batters per nine innings.
 
The Eagles earned three First-Team All-SSAC honors. Marco Ozuna carries a 9-1 record overall with 69 strikeouts over 65 innings of work with a 1.42 WHIP. Shortstop Juan Trinidad leads the Eagles with 51 RBIs on the season to tie for the third most in the league. Outfielder Orlando Lorduy hit .359 with 17 doubles and eight home runs.
 
#3 OTTAWA UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (34-17)
 
OUAZ, currently receiving votes in the NAIA national coaches poll, earned an at-large bid to the NAIA opening round after finishing fourth in the Golden State Athletic Conference with a league record of 10-14. After closing out the regular season on a seven-game winning streak, the Spirit went 2-2 in the GSAC Tournament.
 
The Spirit have five wins over NAIA Top-25 wins this season. The are hitting .300 and scoring 8.4 points per game. Their team ERA sits at 5.44 and they are striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings.