Five-Team Field Set for 2025 NAIA Baseball Opening Round in Shreveport

SHREVEPORT, La. — The road to Lewiston runs through north Louisiana as LSU Shreveport prepares to welcome four top programs to Pilot Field for the 2025 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, taking place May 12–15. The double-elimination tournament features No. 1 LSU Shreveport, No. 19 Mid-America Christian (MACU), No. 21 Johnson University (Tenn.), Ottawa University (Kan.), and Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), all competing for a berth in the 2025 Avista-NAIA World Series later this month. This marks the fourth time that LSUS has served as an Opening Round host.

Top-seeded LSU Shreveport enters the tournament with a perfect 51-0 record, having completed the regular season 47-0—including a dominant 30-0 mark in Red River Athletic Conference play—before winning the RRAC Tournament title. The Pilots have held the No. 1 spot in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll since March 5 and are widely considered the team to beat in the postseason.

Tournament action begins on Monday, May 12, with three games on tap. The day opens at 11:00 a.m. as No. 4 seed Ottawa (Kan.) faces No. 5 seed SUNO. Ottawa posted a 38-14 overall record and climbed as high as No. 19 in the national rankings. The Braves are led offensively by Brian Parry, who boasts a .423 batting average and a .527 on-base percentage, while Ryan Wilwers anchors the pitching staff with 76 strikeouts and a 1.63 WHIP. SUNO, in only its second season, makes its first-ever NAIA Opening Round appearance. The Knights finished 24-25 overall and advanced to the HBCUAC Tournament title game after knocking off Stillman College and Wiley University in impressive fashion.

Game two is set for 2:30 p.m. and will feature No. 2 seed Mid-America Christian University taking on No. 3 seed Johnson University (Tenn.). MACU enters with a 38-15 record and earned an at-large berth after finishing second in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 20-7 league mark. This marks the Evangels' second straight trip to the Opening Round. Johnson University finished 33-17 and posted a 21-9 conference record in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Royals climbed to as high as No. 11 nationally during the season, the highest ranking in program history. Offensively, Johnson hit .315 as a team and stole a program-record 147 bases, while defensively the Royals posted a .963 fielding percentage with four shutout wins.

The nightcap will showcase the undefeated top seed as No. 1 LSUS takes the field at 6:00 p.m. to face the winner of the SUNO–Ottawa game. LSUS has been the most dominant team in the country throughout the 2025 campaign, showcasing elite pitching, timely hitting, and veteran leadership from a battle-tested roster looking to make a deep postseason run.

The tournament will continue through May 15, with the winner of the Shreveport bracket advancing to the 2025 Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, scheduled for May 23–30. Additional game times, bracket updates, livestream links, and ticket information are available at lsusathletics.com.