Top-Ranked Taylor Hosts NAIA Opening Round, Eyes Return to Lewiston

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UPLAND, Ind. – Top-ranked Taylor (49-5) hosts the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round beginning Monday at Winterholter Field, entering as the No. 1 overall seed for the second straight year and as host for the fifth consecutive season. TU's opener is set for 6 p.m. against the winner of Mount Mercy and Shawnee State, with the bracket champion advancing to the 69th annual Avista NAIA World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho, beginning May 22.

TU arrives to the national tournament atop the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll — a position it has held since April 1 — and as the regular-season and tournament champion of the Crossroads League for a third-straight season. The 49 wins are a program record, eclipsing the previous mark of 47, and TU's 33 conference victories are also the most in school history. A 24-game winning streak earlier this season tied the program standard, and the Trojans collected their 1,700th all-time victory along the way.

The Opening Round appearance is the program's fifth straight, as well as the sixth in eight seasons and 11th overall. TU is 11-18 all-time in the NAIA Opening Round. Six of those 11 wins have come over the past four years at Winterholter Field, leading to a trip to the NAIA World Series in 2023.

Statistically, the Trojans rank among the nation's leaders in nearly every offensive category. TU leads the NAIA in on-base percentage (.477) and runs per game (11.5), ranks fourth in batting average (.353), slugging percentage (.595), walks (334) and extra-base hits (227), and has scored a program-record 598 runs — the third-highest total in the country. The Trojans have reached double digits in scoring 31 times. The pitching staff complements that production with 467 strikeouts and a 10.41 K/9 rate, both fifth nationally.

That offense is built on a lineup that produced seven of TU's 11 All-Crossroads League selections this week, a program-tying total. Senior outfielder Brayden Manning leads the league with a .426 average, ranks second in RBIs (72) and runs scored (78), and earned a third consecutive first-team all-conference selection. The two-time CL Player of the Week now stands second in TU history with 296 career hits. First baseman Jordan Malott — a third-time first-team all-conference honoree — leads the Crossroads League in both RBIs (81) and on-base percentage (.531), pairing a .389 average with 15 home runs and a .754 slugging mark. Senior third baseman Fletcher Roemmich anchors the leadoff spot at .371 with 10 home runs and 79 runs scored to tie a TU single-season record. He reached base safely in all but one game – a streak that included 61 consecutive games across the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Three more All-CL honorees fill out the Trojan lineup. Senior Brennan Frickel earned a first-team selection with a .388/.518/.667 slash line across 50 games — including a .453 average in 33 conference contests. Senior shortstop Ben Kennedy, the 2025 CL Gold Glove winner, is hitting a career-best .373 with nine home runs and 51 RBIs and now stands at 198 hits, 26 home runs and 160 RBIs across 209 career games. Junior outfielder Luke Sutter carries a 26-game on-base streak into the national tourney while slashing .361/.474/.589 with nine home runs.

The Trojan rotation is fronted by three first-team All-CL arms. Brody Fine is 8-0 with 83 strikeouts in 15 starts at a 12.7 K/9 rate. Wes Hunt is 6-0 with a 3.42 ERA over 50 innings — in which he has not surrendered a home run. Out of the bullpen, Nathan Frady is 4-1 with a 3.27 ERA and 45 strikeouts against just 11 walks in 44 innings. Head coach Kyle Gould was named Crossroads League Coach of the Year for the third year in a row and the ninth time across his 22 seasons, and has now pushed his career mark to 786 wins.

The four teams joining TU in the Upland Bracket all played for conference tournament championships in May.

No. 17 Abraham Baldwin (39-15) enters the bracket as the No. 2 seed and Southern States Athletic Conference tournament runner-up. The Stallions, in their second NAIA season after moving up from the NJCAA in 2024, won 13 consecutive games before falling to Loyola in the SSAC final. Shortstop Quinten Rawls anchors the lineup at .380 with 22 doubles, nine home runs and 18 stolen bases on 19 attempts, while right-handers Kade Haywood and Reigh Jordan have eight wins apiece atop the rotation. ABAC hits .319 as a team (28th in NAIA) and ranks 12th nationally in doubles (115), averaging 7.8 runs per game. Head coach Blake Williams is 77-31 across his two seasons leading the program, which is making its second consecutive Opening Round appearance and brings a 3-2 all-time mark.

Indiana Tech (41-15) holds the No. 3 seed and arrives as the bracket's hottest team, having won 19 of its last 21 before falling to Madonna in the WHAC championship. The Warriors are powered by a pair of home run threats: Garrett Rainey is hitting .378 with 21 home runs and 59 RBIs, while Jack Ferguson has 22 home runs, 63 RBIs and a .360 average at the plate. Behind those bats, Tech ranks third nationally in sacrifice hits and seventh in hit-by-pitches (121), manufacturing 506 runs (10th in NAIA) at 9.04 per game. Kip McWilliams is in his 19th season leading the program, where he has compiled a 663-394-2 record and a 23-22 mark across 13 Opening Round appearances. TU has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two programs dating to 2005, though they haven't met since a 2021 doubleheader at Winterholter Field.

Mount Mercy (38-13) wears the No. 4 seed and arrives after it captured the Heart of America Athletic Conference title after a second-place regular-season finish. The Mustangs average 8.2 runs per game and feature six players hitting .309 or better, with senior Lane Spieker (.314, 13 HR, 48 RBI) the headline left-handed power threat, junior Christian Graves leading the team with 19 home runs and 49 RBIs, and right-hander Jack Turgasen (7-4, 3.15 ERA) anchoring the staff. Twelfth-year head coach Jack Dahm (331-241-1 at Mount Mercy) has guided the Mustangs to their third Opening Round appearance and second straight, and the program enters at 2-4 all-time at this stage.

Shawnee State (32-18) rounds out the bracket as the No. 5 seed out of the River States Conference, returning to the NAIA Opening Round for the first time since 2011 after finishing as the RSC tournament runner-up. Diego Mendoza (.374, 13 HR, 66 RBI) and Jace Parnin (.379, 10 HR, 48 RBI) lead an offense that ranks 25th nationally in batting average (.320), 23rd in slugging percentage and 21st in home runs (66) at 8.4 runs per game, with right-hander Ricardo Medrano arriving undefeated at 8-0 with a 3.99 ERA. Third-year head coach Rob Ehlers (87-55) leads a Bears program making its sixth Opening Round appearance and bringing an 8-11 all-time mark at this stage. The only previous meeting between TU and Shawnee State came on Opening Day 2016, when the Trojans scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 win in Emerson, Georgia.

Admission to the NAIA Opening Round at Winterholter Field will be free for all fans across the four-day event. Every game in the bracket will also be streamed at no cost on Urban Edge Network, with broadcasts produced by ISC Sports Network. The double-elimination format runs through Thursday, May 14, with the bracket winner earning a trip to Lewiston.