The Park University baseball program has qualified to the 2024 NAIA National Championship Opening Round for the first time in program history. The opening round will take place from May 13-16 and the Pirates have been placed in the Williamsburg Bracket in Williamsburg, Ky. with its opening round host University of the Cumberlands.

46 teams have qualified for opening rounds in 2024 made up of 10 opening round sites across the country. Park is in a five-team opening round format that will be double-elimination. One winner from each opening round site will advance to Lewiston, Idaho for the 65^th Avista NAIA World Series at Harris Field at Lewis-Clark State College.

Park with a program best 35-17 overall record fought their way through the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament field and emerged out of the conference championship as the tournament runner-up.

 Head Coach Cary Lundy has led the Pirates since 2003 and has appeared in two Midlands Collegiate athletic Conference Championship games. He now adds a third conference championship appearance to his teams' accomplishments and will enter his first NAIA National Championship Opening Round appearance since the NAIA's new post-season structure in 2009. Prior to 2009, the Pirates had three NAIA Region IV Tournament appearances in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Each of these appearances, the Pirates were snubbed by their MCAC rival Bellevue University.

The host from Williamsburg, Ky. is the No. 3 nationally ranked and No. 1 seeded University of the Cumberlands. The Patriots have a 48-6 record and were regular season and tournament champions of the Mid-South Conference. This will be their seventh opening round.

Coming from the North Star Athletic Association is the No. 2 seed the No. 14 nationally ranked Bruins of Bellevue University (Neb.). They also earned an automatic bid for winning the NSAA Tournament Championship. On the season they have a 39-12 overall record. Of course, there is quite the history between Park and Bellevue and a potential matchup to look out for, as the Bruins have a storied baseball program of now 26 opening round appearances.

Also, within the NAIA top 25 is No. 22 nationally ranked Loyola University (La.). The Wolfpack are in as the No. 3 seed and received an at-large bid out of the South States Athletics Conference with a 36-17 overall record. Loyola now has three opening rounds under their belts.

University of Saint Francis (Ind.) is the only other team not within the Top 25 in the Williamsburg Bracket and is Conference Tournament Runner-Up of the Crossroads League with a 37-17 record. They also join Park in their first NAIA Opening Round appearance since the new format was installed in 2009.

Williamsburg Bracket
May 13-16 | Doyle Buhl Stadium | Hosted by Cumberlands (Ky.)
Tournament Central
1. Cumberlands (Ky.) 
2. Bellevue (Neb.) 
3. Loyola (La.) 
4. Saint Francis (Ind.) 
5. Park (Mo.) 
 

Game Time (All times ET)	Game Information
May 13
Game 1 - 12:00 PM	Saint Francis (Ind.) vs. Park (Mo.)
Game 2 - 3:30 PM	Bellevue (Neb.) vs. Loyola (La.)
Game 3 - 7:00 PM	Cumberlands (Ky.) vs. Winner Game 1
May 14
Game 4 - 12:00 PM	Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5 - 3:30 PM	Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 6 - 7:00 PM	Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
May 15
Game 7 - 12:00 PM	Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5
Game 8 - 3:00 PM	Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5
May 16
Game 9 - 12:00 PM	Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 8
(If Necessary)

 
NAIA National Championship Opening Round Links
WATCH
TICKETS
Opening Round Schedules