During the first two seasons of the current “direct qualification” arrangement, no unranked teams made it through to the Baseball National Championship in Lewiston. The lowest ranked team to get to Lewiston was Tennessee Wesleyan, ranked #24 at the end of the 2010 season.

This season turned out differently. Concordia-Irvine (ISR #14) and Tennessee Wesleyan (ISR #28) will be in the Baseball National Championship field.

Concordia-Irvine won the Riverside bracket, defeating #3 Cal Baptist 4-2 in the final. DH Bryan Nicholson hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to win it for the Eagles. Brent Clapper, who allowed six hits in 7 1/3 innings, got the win.

The was the Eagles' eighth straight win, and their 20^th win in their past 22 games.

Tennessee Wesleyan won the Paducah bracket, defeating #5 Cumberland 9-2 in the “if necessary” game. DH David Bergin hit two home runs and had six RBI for Wesleyan in the all-Bulldogs matchup. Josh McDaniel, pitching for Wesleyan on short rest, went six innings, allowed no earned runs on two hits. Corey Collins went the rest of the way, held Cumberland scoreless; both of Cumberland's runs came in the first inning.

Cumberland defeated Wesleyan 19-10 earlier the same day. LF Jesse Bowman went 4-5 with six RBI for Cumberland; Bergin hit two home runs for Wesleyan in this game, too, and he now has 23 on the season.

Wesleyan defeated Cumberland 5-3 earlier in the tournament, and the starters were Bergin and Aaron Wilkerson. Neither got a decision, but Bergin got the best of the matchup, went 6 1/3 innings, allowed three runs on six hits, struck out seven. Wilkerson, making the last appearance of his career, went three innings, allowed three runs on eight hits. His numbers for 2011 are 12-0, 1.49 ERA, and 90 strikeouts. He had 26 straight wins in his two seasons at Cumberland. He got the only at-bat of his career in a 14-7 win over William Jewell in this tournament; he came in as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, and reached on a fielder's choice.

#21 Belhaven won the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament, defeating William Carey in the final 16-5. The Blazers put it away with ten runs in the third inning, led by a grand slam home run by C Ryan Saunders; all of the runs were scored with two out.

Belhaven, Lee, and Auburn-Montgomery will be in the Opening Round tournament. Faulkner, Southern Polytechnic, and Brewton-Parker will have to wait until the final coaches' poll next week.

Results from the TranSouth Conference tournament in Jackson, TN:

#4 Cumberland was upset by Bethel (TN) (ISR #59) 9-7 in the first round. The Bulldogs led 5-2 after five innings, but the Wildcats scored four runs in the sixth inning on no hits, three bases on balls, and three errors. The winning run came in the seventh inning on a two-RBI double by LF Jay Lowery.

#22 Trevecca Nazarene defeated Freed-Hardeman 4-1. The winning run came on a sacrifice fly by DH Jordan Foreman.

Martin Methodist defeated Union U. (TN) (ISR #23) 2-1. Martin Methodist starter Jerry McMurtry went eight innings, allowed one run on five hits, struck out ten, threw 128 pitches. Jeremey Stack went the distance for Union U.; he allowed two runs on seven hits, struck out seven, threw 126 pitches. The winning run came on a wild pitch by Stack.

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for May 3, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Embry-Riddle 15, Oklahoma City 4, Cal Baptist 1, Cumberland 1

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for April 26, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Embry-Riddle 17, Oklahoma City 3, Lee 1

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for April 19, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Lee 16, Embry-Riddle 4, Oklahoma City 2

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for April 12, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Lee 14, Embry-Riddle 2, Oklahoma City 7

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for April 5, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Oklahoma City 21, Lee 1

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for March 29, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Oklahoma City 17, Lee 2, Embry-Riddle 2

Oklahoma City (ISR #1) has won 23 straight. They defeated Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State 5-3 in mid-week, then swept U. Of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 8-4, 3-2, and 4-2. The Stars came from behind in the first game, and had to shut down late rallies by USAO in the second and third games. Corey Theriot, Allen Townsend, and Rich Hawkins got the wins.

The Stars lead the NAIA in fielding, with a .980 average. They host Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Hastings on Wednesday, and Saint Gregory's on Thursday. They visit Saint Gregory's on March 26.

Fresno Pacific (#2) won three of four against Cal Baptist (#3), and two of the wins were shutouts. Jesse Darrah pitched the first one, allowed two hits, walked none, struck out 12. The Sunbirds won 3-0 on home runs by 1B Wes Dorrell and C Michael Vaughn. The second shutout was 6-0; Aaron Lynn also allowed only two hits, struck out nine, and had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning. DH Michael Rivera hit a three-RBI double. Rivera got a save in the fourth game of the series, a 4-2 win for the Sunbirds. The Lancers' win was 4-3 in the second game of the series. 1B John Manzano hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to win it; Patrick Smith got the win in relief.

The Sunbirds are 17-9. Biola (#13) leads the Golden State Athletic Conference with an 11-4 record, and the Sunbirds and Lancers are tied for second place with an 11-5 record. The Sunbirds host Point Loma Nazarene on Wednesday, and visit Point Loma on March 26.

Cal Baptist (ISR #1) split four games with Azusa Pacific (#16), winning 2-1, losing 5-1, winning 10-3, and losing 7-3. Taylor Siemens went the distance in the first game, scattering eight hits and striking out 11, and not walking a batter. The Lancers' runs came from solo home runs by SS Brian Sharp and 1B Josh Manzano. Morgan Wynne got the win for the Cougars in the second game. Erik Wallace got the win for the Lancers in the third game, went eight innings, allowed four hits. In the fourth game, 1B Johnathan Erb went 2-3 and batted in three runs for the Cougars; Nolan Rudman got a win in his first start of the season; he allowed four hits over six innings, struck out seven.

The Lancers are now 23-4, and they remain at the top of the Golden State Athletic Conference standing with a 10-2 record. Next up is Fresno Pacific (#3), at home on Wednesday, and away on March 19. The Sunbirds are 13-8, and swept four games against The Master's last week.

Oklahoma City (#2) has won 19 straight. They started the week with a 6-5 win over Iowa Wesleyan. Courtesy runner Brian Fisher scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch. Steve Styck, who pitched the final inning, got his second win of the season. The Stars then swept three games from Northwestern Oklahoma State, 17-7, 2-1, and 4-1 (eight innings). Allen Townsend got the 2-1 win, struck out eight, didn't allow an earned run. Matt Presley batted in the winning run in the third game. Rich Hawkins went the eight-inning distance for the Stars. Hawkins is 3-2, 2.05 ERA.

The 19-2 Stars visit Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday, U. Of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Thursday, and host USAO on March 19.

Embry-Riddle (#4) started the week with a 10-2 win over Jamestown; SS Ben Kline went 3-4 with two doubles. Brandon Creath went seven innings, allowed two hits, struck out eight. The Eagles then won two games against Tennessee Wesleyan, 8-2 and 8-5. Ryan Vigue and Robbie Ratliff got the wins. Next, their 13-game winning streak was broken by South Carolina-Beaufort, 7-6 in 11 innings. The Eagles led 5-0 at one point, but needed a sacrifice fly by CF Aaron Glaum in the top of the ninth to send it into extra innings. The Sand Sharks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 11^th, and Larry Perry hit a single with two out to win it. Andrew Barrineau, who pitched the last three innings for the Sand Sharks, got the win.

The Eagles swept a double-header against the Sand Sharks the next day, 2-0 and 10-7 (11 innings). This was described in Embry-Riddle's press release as “one of the most intense doubleheaders in recent history.” Ryan Vigue got his second win of the week in the complete-game shutout. He allowed only four hits, and struck out 11. The Eagles got the winning run in the first inning on an RBI single by 3B Steve Sabins. The only other run of the game came on an RBI single by C Adam Cellini in the seventh inning. The Sand Sharks had the tying run at first in the bottom of the eighth, but Vigue got LF/RF Ty Main to ground out to end the only scoring threat of the game by the Sand Sharks.