KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced its pairings for the 69th Annual Avista NAIA World Series being played at historic Harris Field on the campus of Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho from May 22-30.
Making its first ever trip to the NAIA World Series, No. 18 MACU Baseball has been tabbed as the seventh-seed in the 10-team tournament and it will officially open the entire event against fourth-seeded No. 10 Doane (Neb.) on Friday, May 22 at 8:30 a.m. (10:30 am CST).
The Evangels punched their ticket after a sensational showing in the NAIA Opening Round this past week, competing in the Shreveport, Louisiana bracket. After opening the tournament on Monday with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Loyola (La.), the Evangels needed to face last year's defending NAIA National Champion twice.
On Tuesday, the Evangels ran away with an 8-2 win over No. 12 LSU Shreveport to lock up their spot in the NAIA Opening Round Championship. After the Pilots pulled out a 5-4 extra-inning win over Oklahoma Wesleyan to set up a rematch with the Evangels on Wednesday, MACU battled back from a 4-3 deficit of its own against LSUS, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to eventually pull out the 7-4 victory to capture the crown.
The Evangels have put together one of their most remarkable seasons in program history, entering the event with 42 wins, the most the team has ever notched in a single season since joining the NAIA in 2008.
