Fullerton, CA - The No. 10 Hope International University Baseball team (37-14) has earned an at large bid for the 67th Annual Baseball National Championship. The GSAC Regular Season Champions were selected as the top seed for the opening round in the Fayette bracket hosted by Central Methodist as announced by the NAIA on Thursday afternoon. The Fayette bracket will be held from May 13-16 at Estes Baseball Field in Fayette, MO. Click here for Tournament Central.

The 2024 Opening Round features 46 teams. There will be four opening round sites that will feature four teams and six which will be five-team brackets, each played in double elimination format. The winner of each will advance to the NAIA Baseball World Series at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID from May 24-31. The Royals are the No. 1 seed and will be joined by hosts No. 2 Central Methodist, No. 3 Tabor and No. 4 University of Northwestern Ohio.

The top-seeded Royals are the No. 10 ranked team in the country and won the GSAC Regular Season Championship for the fourth time with an overall record of 37-14 and 19-4 in conference play. The Royals went on a program record 19 game winning streak during the regular season and finished runner up in the GSAC Tournament as they took down OUAZ 10-5 and 7-4 but lost to No. 12 Jessup 11-8 and then 10-9 in the Championship game. The Royals will take on the University of Northwestern Ohio in their first game, a rematch from the second game in the 2017 NAIA Opening Round that the Royals won 17-7. The Royals are led by JJ Cruz who leads the team with a .398 batting average to go with 11 home runs and 63 RBIs. The Royals also feature an All-GSAC pitching rotation of Trey Seeley (7-3), Josh Landry (5-1) and Justin Drury (8-0).

The second-seeded and host Central Methodist University Eagles are the No. 8 ranked team in the country and were selected as an at-large team after winning the HAAC Regular Season Championship with an overall record of 43-9 and 28-4 in conference play. The Eagles defeated Park 13-7 in their opening game of the HAAC tournament but then fell 4-1 to Mount Mercy and then 10-9 to Park as they fell short of the Championship game. The Eagles are led by Carlos Negron who sports a .429 batting average to go with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs. The Eagles will meet the Blue Jays for the eighth time with the last result being a 9-2 win for the Eagles in 2023.

The third-seeded Blue Jays of Tabor University were selected as an at-large team after finishing second in the KCAC with an overall record of 35-14 and 28-8 in conference play. The Blue Jays fell out of the KCAC Tournament early on as they took down Avila 6-3 but then fell 6-4 to Oklahoma Wesleyan and then were knocked out in a 12-4 loss to Friends. The Blue Jays are led by Miguel Ramos III who leads the team with a .446 batting average to go with nine home runs and 45 RBIs. 

The Racers of the University of Northwestern Ohio are the fourth seed and earned an automatic bid after winning the WHAC Regular Season Championship with an overall record of 36-15 and 25-6 in conference play. The Racers won their first two games at the WHAC Tournament defeating Lourdes 7-6 and Madonna 14-6 but then fell out of the tournament after losing twice to Madonna 10-6 and 11-10. The Racers are led by Tyler Grigalis who leads the teams with 45 RBIs to go win six home runs and a .384 batting average.
 

Game Time (All times CT)	Game Information
May 13
Game 1 - 11:00 AM	Central Methodist (Mo.) vs. Tabor (Kan.)
	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video
Game 2 - 2:30 PM	Hope International (Calif.) vs. Northwestern Ohio
	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video
May 14
Game 3 - 11:00 AM	Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video
Game 4 - 2:30 PM	Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video
May 15
Game 5 - 11:00 AM	Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video
Game 6 - 2:30 PM	Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video
May 16
Game 7 - 12:00 PM	Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6
(If Necessary)	Live Stats/Box Score | Live Video