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Kansas Wesleyan's baseball team will be the second seed in the NAIA Opening Round scheduled for May 11-14 at Dean Evans Stadium.
 
The Coyotes are one of four teams in the event with the winner advancing to the NAIA World Series May 22-30 at Lewiston, Idaho. The 46-team field that will compete at 10 Opening Round sites was revealed Wednesday.
 
KWU (48-7) will play third seed Concordia, Neb. (37-16) in its first game. The Coyotes defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 in a game April 1 at Evans Stadium. Top seed and No. 6-ranked Johnson, Tenn. takes on fourth seed Our Lady of the Lake, Texas in the other opening game of the double-elimination tournament.
 
Coach Bill Neale was surprised the ninth-ranked Coyotes did not get a top seed.
 
"I don't even know what to say to that," he said. "We're tied for second in the country in wins. I know people are pointing to our strength of schedule a little bit, but we couldn't control the weather. We've only lost seven games in 55 and that's incredible.
 
"It's a really good bracket, there are four really good teams and we're one of them. I think these guys are deserving to be a one seed but hey, we'll line up with everyone else and we'll go play it. We're not going to pout. I can tell already the guys have a little chip on the shoulder."
 
KWU qualified for the NAIA postseason by winning the Kansas Conference regular season title then won the KCAC tournament last weekend at Evans Stadium. The Coyotes lost their second game to McPherson but won four in a row in two days, scoring 55 runs in the process. They defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan 11-10 in the championship Saturday afternoon.
 
"We used a lot of guys in that tournament and that's kind of what tournament play's about," Neale said. "It's using multiple people, multiple pitchers, having people come in and do different things. I think we benefited from having to do that. Some guys who maybe haven't played in a while or pitched in a while had to step up and do some things and they're probably going to do the same thing in this tournament."
 
KWU advanced to the World Series for the first time in school history by winning the 2024 Shreveport Opening Round.
 
Neale likes the fact his team will be playing at home.
 
"We're sleeping in our own beds and hopefully we get the great support of the community. I know the school will do a great job," he said. "That's one of the things that's tough with being a two seed – we're playing the early game when people are at work. But it is what it is and we'll do it."
 
 
ABOUT THE TEAMS

No. 1 Seed – Johnson University (Tenn.) – No. 6 in NAIA Top 25, 37-12 Overall, 20-6 in AAC
 
Johnson comes into the Opening Round earning an At-Large bid from the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Royals were the No. 2 seed in the AAC Tournament and went 1-2 in the tournament losing to Montreat (N.C.) 11-3, defeating Pikeville (Ky.) 10-1 and again losing to Montreat 6-4.
 
Johnson is hitting a combined .298 as a team, which ranks No. 66 in the NAIA. The Royals ranked fourth in the AAC in batting average. They have 475 hits as a team, which includes 79 doubles, seven triples and 29 homeruns.
 
Luke Wilson leads the Royals with a .368 batting average on the season and a .859 OPS.  He leads the Royals in hits with 71.
 
Johnson's pitching staff carries a 4.39 ERA as a staff, which ranks No. 17 in the NAIA. The staff WHIP of 1.22 ranks tied for No. 11 in the NAIA.
 
Colby Reynolds leads the Johnson pitching staff with 11 wins, and his 3.24 ERA is best on the team amongst the regular starters. He's thrown 91.2 innings, allowing 90 hits and 38  runs and had 77 strikeouts against 21 walks. Kaleb Townsend is the closer with seven saves in 22 appearances.
 
No. 2 Seed – Kansas Wesleyan – No. 9 in NAIA Top 25, 48-7 Overall, 32-4 in KCAC
 
The host Coyotes come into the NAIA Opening Round making their fifth straight Opening Round appearance and eighth appearance overall. The Coyotes qualified for the Opening Round by winning the KCAC Regular Season title and then also claimed the KCAC Tournament Championship as well.
 
Wesleyan's offense is one of the best in the NAIA. The Coyotes lead the NAIA in extra base hits (276), homeruns (127), slugging (.646), runs scored (609), hits (668) and OPS (1.116), and rank third in doubles (141) and on base percentage (.470).
 
KCAC Player of the Year Carter Allen leads the team in hits with 98 and ranks second in the NAIA. His .419 average ranks No. 19 in the NAIA and leads the team. He has 22 homeruns on the season which ranks No. 7 in the NAIA. Fernando Ruvalcaba leads the NAIA in RBI with 86 and ranks No. 8 in the NAIA with 21 homeruns.
 
KWU has a team ERA of 4.45 which ranks No. 20 in the NAIA. KWU's team WHIP of 1.30 ranks No. 4 in the country.
 
Shaw Lee is 8-2 on the season in 75.2 innings pitched with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Riley Gwin has been KWU's workhorse out of the bullpen with 30 appearances, which leads the NAIA and carries a 7-1 record and a 0.94 WHIP which ranks No. 3 in the NAIA in 67 innings.
 
No. 3 Seed – Concordia (Neb.) – RV in NAIA Top 25, 37-16 Overall, 22-6 in GPAC
 
Concordia qualified for the NAIA Opening Round as the runners-up of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament. The Bulldogs fell in a 10-inning 17-16 loss to Doane (Neb.) in the GPAC Championship Game.
 
Concordia hits .290 as a team which ranks No. 92 in the NAIA rankings. They have 450 hits as a team which ranks No. 75 in the NAIA. Concordia ranked fourth in the GPAC in batting average and second in the league in hits.
 
Jake Watson leads the Bulldogs in batting average, hitting .369 on the season, Bronx Lewis leads the team with 60 hits and his 23 homers leads the team as well and ranks third best in the NAIA.
 
Concordia's pitching staff has a 4.62 ERA which ranks No. 26 in the NAIA. The team WHIP of 1.45 ranks No. 29 in the NAIA. Concordia leads the NAIA in strikeouts with 523 and strikeouts per nine innings at 11.97.
 
Alex Johnson leads the NAIA in strikeouts per nine innings at 14.62 with 98 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitches against only 29 walks. Sam Bespoyasny leads the team in ERA amongst regular starters at 3.43.
 
No. 4 Seed – Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) – RV in NAIA Top 25, 34-18 Overall, 19-8 Red River
 
Our Lady of the Lake received an At-Large bid to the NAIA Opening Round. The Saints reached the final site of the Red River Tournament in Shreveport, Louisiana but lost to Texas A&M-Victoria 15-1 and Texas A&M-Texarkana 5-2 to end their run in the tournament after winning a 3-game series with Arizona Christian to reach the final site.
 
The Saints are hitting .315 as a team which ranks No. 40 in the NAIA and have a .848 OPS. The Saints have only 19 homeruns on the season.
 
Jack Kalisky leads the Saints with a .393 batting average and 68 hits on the season.
 
Pitching-wise, the Saints have a 4.03 team ERA which ranks sixth in the NAIA and a 1.45 team WHIP which ranks No. 29 in the country.
 
Noah Ferraro has a team best 3.13 ERA among the regular starters in 74.2 innings pitched. His ERA ranks No. 36 in the NAIA. Donavan Gamez leads the team with 82 innings pitched and 83 strikeouts. His strikeout total ranks No. 33 in the NAIA.