SAC Tourney Bracket The bracket for the 2017 Sooner Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament has been formatted, and the Wayland Baptist Pioneers will open against 13
th-ranked, second-seeded Texas Wesleyan at 11 a.m. Friday in Chickasha, Okla.
Wayland (22-26, 10-14) is seeded seventh in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament after tying for sixth place in the SAC regular-season standings with Southwestern Christian (34-20, 10-14). The Eagles were seeded ahead of Wayland at No. 6 because they won the series against the Pioneers, 2-1. All three games were one-run, extra-inning decisions, with Southwestern Christian winning 1-0 in eight and 5-4 in 10, and Wayland winning 5-4 in 11.
Southwestern Christian opens against 18
th-ranked, third-seeded Science and Arts of Oklahoma (39-13, 17-7), one of two tournament hosts (Bracket 2), at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
The Wayland-Wesleyan winner advances to a 2 p.m. Saturday game against the Southwestern Christian-USAO winner, while the two losers meet at 6 p.m. Friday in an elimination game.
The Bracket 2 championship will be played at 2 p.m. Sunday with the "if necessary" game at 6.
The Bracket 2 winner advances to the winner-take-all tournament championship at 1 p.m. Monday against the winner from Bracket 1, to be played at Oklahoma City University. The top-ranked OCU Stars (41-8, 18-3) are the No. 1 seed and open against No. 8 seed Southwestern Assemblies of God University (15-32, 6-15). The other first-round pairing has No. 4 seed St. Gregory's (30-20, 13-10) taking on No. 5 seed Mid-America Christian (20-30, 10-13).
Wayland is hoping to win the conference tournament and return to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, to be played May 15-18 and featuring nine, five-team, double-elimination tournaments.
Hosting opening rounds will be: Bellevue (Neb.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, Kingsport (Tenn.) Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), Northwestern Ohio, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Wesleyan, Tabor (Kan.), and William Carey (Miss.).
Opening round qualifiers and brackets will be announced May 11.
The nine opening round champions and World Series host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) make up the field at the 2017 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. The World Series, which is taking place at Harris Field for the 18th-consecutive season and 26th time overall, is scheduled to run from May 26-June 2.
Wayland qualified for the opening round for the second time in team history last year, traveling to Hutchinson, Kan., where the Pioneers won one of two games.
2017 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Host Sites
| Host |
Facility |
Host City |
Event Title |
| Bellevue (Neb.) |
Don Roddy Field |
Bellevue, Neb. |
Bellevue Bracket |
| Faulkner (Ala.) |
Harrison Field |
Montgomery, Ala. |
Montgomery Bracket |
| Georgia Gwinnett |
Grizzly Baseball Field |
Lawrenceville, Ga. |
Lawrenceville Bracket |
| Kingsport CVB/Appalachian Athletic Conference |
Hunter Wright Stadium |
Kingsport, Tenn. |
Kingsport Bracket |
| Northwestern Ohio |
St. Rita's Sports Complex |
Lima, Ohio |
Lima Bracket |
| Oklahoma City |
Jim Wade Stadium |
Oklahoma City, Okla. |
Oklahoma City Bracket |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan |
Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium |
Bartlesville, Okla. |
Bartlesville Bracket |
| Tabor (Kan.) |
Hobart-Detter Field/Rice Field |
Hutchinson, Kan. |
Hutchinson Bracket |
| William Carey (Miss.) |
Milton Wheeler Field |
Hattiesburg, Miss. |
Hattiesburg Bracket |
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