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Central Methodist and MidAmerica Nazarene Qualify for the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round
Posted: May 13, 2022

Central Methodist and MidAmerica Nazarene Qualify for the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round

The NAIA announced its 46-team field for the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round on Thursday, and two Heart teams earned a spot in the National Championship, as Central Methodist will serve as the No. 2 seed in the Bellevue (Neb.) Bracket and MidAmerica Nazarene is the No. 3 seed in the Oklahoma City Bracket.

Central Methodist is joined in the Bellevue bracket, by No. 1 seeded Bellevue (Neb.), No. 3 Tabor (Kan.), No. 4 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 5 Judson (Ill.)

Grand View is joined in the Oklahoma City bracket, by No. 1 seeded Oklahoma City, No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), No. 4 LSU Alexandria (La.) and No. 5 Kansas Wesleyan.

This is the fifth appearance at the National Championship Opening Round for the Eagles, while the Pioneers have also appeared in five of them.

CMU is 5-6 all-time in the Opening Round and advanced all the way to the 2021 World Series last year, finishing as the National Runner-Up. MNU is 3-6 in Opening Round games.

CMU earned an automatic berth to the championship, after winning the Heart conference tournament championship with a 4-3 win over MNU. The Pioneers earned the automatic bid as the Conference Tournament Runner-Up.

For a look at the Opening Round Schedule, please click here. 

To view the full field of national qualifiers, please click here.

Opening Round Notes

  • Overall, there are 36 repeat qualifiers from the 2021 opening round, including eight teams that won opening round titles last season.
  • This season marks the first in the Opening Round format in which LCSC will play in the first phase. 
  • Three teams achieved the 50-win threshold - Southeastern (Fla.), Tennessee Wesleyan, and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
  • Twenty-two have combined to win 51 Opening Round crowns.
  • The Sun paces all conference with five entrants, followed by the SSAC and KCAC with four each, while the GSAC and AAC put forth three teams. 
  • All-Time Opening Round Record by Seed
    • No. 1-Seed: 212-79 (.728)
    • No. 2 seed: 140-140 (.500)
    • No. 3 seed: 139-142 (.494)
    • No. 4 seed: 106-152 (.410)
    • No. 5 seed: 91-159 (.364)
  • All-Time Opening Round Host Records
    • 2011 Hosts: 17-7 (.708)
    • 2012 Hosts: 23-7 (.766)
    • 2013 Hosts: 20-5 (.800)
    • 2014 Hosts: 18-8 (.692)
    • 2015 Hosts: 20-9 (.689)
    • 2016 Hosts: 20-14 (.588)
    • 2017 Hosts: 21-10 (.677)
    • 2018 Hosts: 17-9 (.653)
    • 2019 Hosts: 21-8 (.76)4
    • 2021 Hosts: 15-11 (.576)
    • TOTAL: 192-88 (.685)