The Louisiana Christian Wildcats, with a No. 24 national ranking, were a pretty fair bet to receive an at-large invitation Wednesday when the field was revealed for the NAIA Baseball Opening Round regionals.
LCU is in. And for the first time since 2022, so is LSU Alexandria.
The Wildcats are bound for Lawrenceville, Ga., after playing in Kingsport, Tenn., last May in the NAIA postseason.
The Generals are going to Athens, Tenn., for their action.
Both double-elimination regionals begin Monday.
It’s LCU’s third straight appearance in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. Coach Mike Byrnes’ club is the second seed in the Lawrenceville Bracket.
Louisiana Christian (35-13) will open Monday against the bracket’s three-seed, nationally-ranked (No. 23) Marian. The Knights (35-16) also earned an at-large spot out of the Crossroads League. Game times have not been set.
The five-team Lawrenceville Bracket is being hosted by national No. 3 ranked Georgia Gwinnett (43-6), who is the regional No. 1 seed and receives a bye into the winner’s bracket. The Grizzlies will take on the winner of the fourth-seeded Racers of Northwestern Ohio (36-16) and the No. 5 seeded Talladega Tornadoes (31-17).
LSUA earned an at-large bid after posting a 33-15 overall record and 20-7 mark in conference play. Coach Kody Gautreaux’s Generals took two games, in three-game series, from both nationally-ranked conference foes Texas A&M-Victoria and LCU before closing the regular season with a series win over Our Lady of the Lake.
Three-seeded LSUA joins regional host No. 2 seed Tennessee Wesleyan, top-seeded Webber (Fla.), fourth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan, and fifth-seeded William Woods (Mo.). Webber is ranked eighth nationally with a 35-15 record.
The Generals take on Tennessee Wesleyan (37-14), ranked 16th nationally, in their opening game Monday.