Tennessee Wesleyan will be traveling to Columbus, Georgia for the 2010 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The Bulldogs are a number 3 seed in the bracket and will be playing the number 2 seed in the first game. The Bulldogs will be playing at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, May 18^th against Southern Polytechnic State University. 

THE TEAMS

#1 seed no. 9 LSU Shreveport Pilots (47-11, 25-7 GCAC)

The Pilots come into the opening round making their third post season appearance with a record of 4-4 in the previous two appearances.LSUS won their 4^th Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship winning four of the last five.

It is hard to pick a top bat in this lineup with all nine slots in the order with an average of over .300 but Andrew Brouillette leads the team in average among the starters with a .431 batting average while Kevin Smith has the most home runs with 16 and he is 5^th in the NAIA with 80 RBIs which leads the team. The Pilots have 10 hitters with four or more home runs making them a threat to go deep one through nine.

Justin Ennis (11-0) and John James (11-1) lead the team in wins while Ennis is the ERA leader as both have made 14 starts on the mound. Ennis (88.2) has edged out James (87.1) for the most innings pitched while James leads the staff in strikeouts with 99. The Pilot arms are currently second in the NAIA in strikeouts with 429.

James and Jared Mata pitched complete games to get the Pilots into the Championship Monday at the GCAC Tournament. Then Ennis and Corey Theriot, in making his first start of the year, pitched deep into the two games on Monday and coasted the Pilots to the tournament crown.

www.lsus.edu/baseball                          

#2 seed no. 13 Southern Polytechnic State University Hornets (47-11, 14-7 SSAC)

Southern Polytechnic State University received an at-Large bid to this year's opening round making it their third post season appearance having a 5-4 record in the previous two appearances. The Hornets finished tied for second in the Southern States Athletic Conference with Faulkner University.

Jono Waugh leads the team in hitting with a .410 batting average and is second on the team with 12 home runs and is tied for the team lead with 57 RBIs. Gary Owens is the home run leader making the trip around the bases 14 times this season.

SPSU has a respectable 3.76 team ERA coming into the opening round tournament and is led by Blake Mainor (9-1 1.99 ERA) and David Harden (10-1 2.09 ERA). Harden leads the team in innings pitched (77.2) and strikeouts (63).

http://www.spsu.edu/recreation/Baseball/index.html

#3 seed no. 24 Tennessee Wesleyan College Bulldogs (41-15, 20-7 AAC)

Tennessee Wesleyan College comes to the opening round making their second appearance with a 1-2 record in the NAIA post season. The Bulldogs handled the Appalachian Athletic Conference handily by winning not only the regular season title but brought home the tournament hardware as well.

Jonathan Smith is their leading hitter with a .429 batting average while Cody Gaskill (19) and Rafael Carlot (12) are the top long-ball hitters. Gaskill leads the team in RBIs with 82 while Smith is second with 61. The Bulldogs like to run on the bases stealing an NAIA leading 161 bases this season with five players with more than 17 each. Max Loveland is #3 in the nation with 46 stolen bases and leads the team while Smith has a total of 31 and ranks 18^th in the NAIA.

Matt Mccracken leads TWC on the hill with a 5-0 record and a 3.55 ERA. In 11 starts he has logged 66 innings and has struck out 52 batters. Justin Crowell has the most innings pitched with 75.1 but has the highest ERA (7.05) among the starters. He also leads the staff in strikeouts with 67.

http://www.twcbulldogs.com/

#4 seed Indiana University-Southeast Grenadiers (39-18, 18-2 KIAC)

Indiana University-Southeast makes their first ever appearance in the National Baseball Tournament. The Grenadiers are the reigning champion of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as they have an impressive 18-2 record in the conference. IU-S was almost unbeatable at home this season with a 26-2 record but were a game under five hundred on the road at 13-14 while posting a 0-2 record at neutral sites.

IU-S is led by their top hitter, Kyle Lenn, leading the team in at-bats (206), hits (90), doubles (21), home runs (24), RBIs (81), and total bases (187) Lenn is currently ranked in NAIA Division I: #2 in hits, home runs and total bases.

The Grenadiers are led on the mound by Adam Lipke (8-3 4.22 ERA) and Bo Daves (8-2 4.30 ERA). Lipke has 12 appearances with 11 starts while Daves has started in all 11 appearances. Lipke leads the staff in innings pitched (70.1) and strikeouts (57) while Daves has struck out 39 batters in 67 innings pitched.

http://www.iusathletics.com/sport/0/3.php

#5 seed Indiana Institute of Technology Warriors (33-26, 12-8 WHAC)

Indiana Institute of Technology makes their eighth appearance on the national stage having posted an 11-14 record in the previous seven appearances. The Warriors earned their way into the opening round by winning the WHAC Tournament by a final score of 4-3 over Madonna University.

INIT are led by their top two hitters: Justin Medeiros leads the team in average (.387), home runs (12) and is second in RBIs with 42 while Taylor Hoisington has a .353 average at the plate with eight homers and leads the team in RBIs with 63.

Daniel Puckett has the lowest ERA (4.65) among their starting pitchers through 11 starts and 12 appearances. He has a 5-3 record for the year.

http://www.indianatech.edu/Athletics/baseball/Pages/default.aspx

THE BALLPARK

Golden Park will host the 2010 NAIA National Championship Opening Round five-team double elimination tournament. It is a 5,000 seat stadium that previously was the home of the Columbus Catfish (since September of 2006) the single A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Catfish swam upstream to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to begin the 2009 season leaving Golden Park vacant. Currently the park does not house any professional baseball team but does host several tournaments throughout the year.

Golden Park is named after Theodore Earnest Golden who led the efforts in Columbus being awarded their first South Atlantic League team. The dimensions of Golden Park are as follows; LF: 330' CF: 415'  RF: 330'. The ballpark is located at 100 4^th Street in Columbus, Georgia, 31901.

THE OPENING ROUND

Tuesday, May 18

Game 1 at 11:00 AM: #4 Indiana Southest vs. #5 Indiana Tech

Game 2 at 3:00 PM: #2 Southern Poly State vs. #3 Tennessee Wesleyan

Game 3 at 7:00 PM: #1 LSU Shreveport vs. Game 1 winner

Wednesday, May 19

Game 4 11:00 AM: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser

Game 5 3:00 PM: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 6 7:00 PM: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser

Thursday, May 20

Game 7 11:00 AM: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 5 Loser

Game 8 3:00 PM: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner

Friday, May 21

Game 9 11:00 AM CDT: (if needed) Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser