HATTIESBURG – William Carey University will open play in the 2018 NAIA Baseball National Tournament opening round on Monday, May 14, at 12:30 pm as it hosts No. 4 LSU-Shreveport in Game 1 at Milton Wheeler Field.
The Crusaders are 33-23 on the season and received a spot in the opening round as one of fourteen at large bids. Carey is led by Christian Smith (Sr./Carriere) who is batting .330 with 64 hits and 52 steals and David Pimentel (Sr./Nashville) who has 10 home runs and 54 RBI. Hunter Speer (Sr./New Orleans) anchors the Crusaders on the hill and is 9-3 on the year with 85 strikeouts in 87 innings. WCU is making its sixth Opening Round appearance and is 12-9 in the tournament.
Its opponent in Game 1 is former GCAC rival LSU-Shreveport. The Pilots secured a spot in the championship thanks to their Red River Conference regular season title. LSU-S is one of only two teams to have appeared in every NAIA Opening Round tournament since the current format was adopted in 2009.
The No. 1 seed for the Hattiesburg Bracket is St. Thomas University from Miami Gardens, Florida. The Bobcats are 53-7 on the season and is making their seventh trip to the opening round tournament. St. Thomas leads the NAIA in wins and is ranked third in the latest NAIA Coaches Top 25 poll.
Westmont College (Calif.) will be the No. 2 seed. The Warriors are 34-16 on the season and are in the Opening Round for the fourth time in school history. The No. 3 seed will be Indiana University-Southeast from New Albany, Indiana. The River States Athletic Conference champions are 40-12 on the season and are making it fifth trip to the Opening Round.
Last week, William Carey University was chosen as one of nine host locations around the country.
The nine Opening Round champions will join Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at the 62nd annual Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho May 25 through June 1.
