From William Carey University Sports Information
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) – For a third consecutive year and seventh time overall, William Carey University has been selected as one of 10 host sites for the 2025 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
The games are set to be played on the Carey campus in Hattiesburg from May 12 to May 15 at Milton Wheeler Field.
The 10th-ranked Crusaders (37-11) got the good news while at the 2025 Southern States Athletic Conference Baseball Championship in Jackson, Tennessee.
The Crusaders, who won a second SSAC regular-season crown in the past three years, won their second game in as many days Thursday night in SSAC “pool” play, topping fifth-seeded Blue Mountain Christian University, 8-4.
Thursday’s victory by the top-seeded Crusaders allowed Carey Coach Bobby Halford to pass former Mississippi State University head coach Ron Polk as the state’s winningest college baseball coach.
Earlier this week, Halford was named 2025 SSAC Coach of the Year, while Carey outfielder Josh Alexander was named 2025 SSAC Player of the Year.
The NAIA Baseball National Championship Selection Committee, made up of head coaches and administrators, chose host sites based on geography, facilities, host qualifications and submitted bids that were due April 15.
The Opening Round sites will feature a total of 46 teams, with six sites using five-team brackets and four sites using four-team brackets.
It was not clear how many teams would be in the Hattiesburg opening round.
All tournaments will be conducted in a double-elimination format.
Each site winner will advance to the 2025 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series, to be held May 23 through May 31 at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
For more information on the NAIA Baseball National Championship, visit www.naia.org.
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