ACU Baseball heading to NAIA Opening Round

Baseball 5/7/2025 5:28:00 PM Natalie Lopez

Firestorm Set To Travel To Lakeland, FL for NAIA Opening Round

Glendale, Ariz.- On May 1, the NAIA released its ten host sites for the 2025 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Rounds. The ten sites included Concordia (Neb.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Georgia Gwinnett (Ga.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), LSU Shreveport (La.), Reinhardt (Ga.), Southeastern (Fla.), Taylor (Ind.), Visit Kingsport (Tenn.), and William Carey (Miss.).

Just a week later on May 7, the NAIA selection show announced that Arizona Christian University will travel to Lakeland, Fla. for the opening round. The site will feature the Fire of Southeastern (Fla.) as the top seed, the No. 2 seed Eagles of Central Methodist University, the No. 3 seed Firestorm of Arizona Christian University, the No. 4 seed Golden Stallions of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and the No. 5 seed Chargers of Briar Cliff University. The winner of the site will be one of the 10 teams to advance to the NAIA World Series final site in Lewiston, Idaho.

Lakeland Site Details
May 12
Game 1 at 8:00 AM PST – Abraham Baldwin (Ga.) vs Briar Cliff (Iowa)
Game 2 at 11:30 AM PST – Central Methodist (Mo.) vs Arizona Christian
Game 3 at 3:00 PM PST – Southeastern (Fla.) vs Winner of Game 1

May 13
Game 4 – Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2
Game 5 – Winner of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 3
Game 6 – Winner of Game 4 vs Loser of Game 3

May 14
Game 7 – Winner of Game 6 vs Loser of Game 5
Game 8 – Winner of Game 5 vs Winner of Game 7

May 15
Game 9 – If Necessary

Southeastern University
Ted A. Broer Stadium - Lakeland, FL

Live Coverage
Live Video - https://thesundigitalnetwork.com/southeasternfire/?B=2415623
Live Stats - https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=1071

Southeastern
The Fire are the top seed in the Lakeland bracket and one of the top six seeded teams in the 2025 NAIA Baseball Championship tournament. The Fire earned an at-large berth out of the Sun Conference with an overall record of 41-13 and will be looking to claim their third red banner.

Central Methodist
The Eagles are the number two seed in the Lakeland bracket. The Eagles won the Heart tournament championship with an overall record of 35-13 and are joining the opening round for the sixth time in program history.

Arizona Christian
The Firestorm are the number three seed in the Lakeland bracket. The Firestorm gained an at-large berth out of the Great Southwest Athletic Conference with an overall mark of 39-14-1 and are making their fourth appearance in the opening round. After advancing to the semi-finals of the World Series a season ago, the Firestorm are 7-6 in the tournament and are looking to build on that.

Abraham Baldwin
The Golden Stallions are the number four seed in the Lakeland bracket. The Golden Stallions claimed an at-large berth out of the Southern States with an overall record of 35-14 and are making their first ever appearance in the national tournament.

Briar Cliff
The Chargers are the number five seed in the Lakeland bracket. The Chargers won the Great Plains tournament title with an overall record of 28-2 and are making their first trip to the tournament since 2015.

Series
This will be the first time Central Methodist and Arizona Christian will be playing in a game. This will also be the first time Abraham Baldwin and Briar Cliff will be playing against each other as well. Southeastern gets a first round bye since there are five teams in the Lakeland bracket.

Roll Storm!

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