KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA has officially announced the 45-team field and pairings for the 2019 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round and No. 14 Texas Wesleyan is a part of that field for the sixth time in program history. The 11th annual event takes place May 13-16 at nine host sites. Each of the nine locations features a five-team, double-elimination tournament.

Texas Wesleyan is slotted as a No. 3 seed in the Henderson, Tennessee bracket alongside host No. 9 Freed-Hardeman, No. 12 Oklahoma Wesleyan, Concordia (Neb.) and Clarke (Iowa). The Rams will meet Freed-Hardeman first, May 13 at 3 p.m. Oklahoma Wesleyan got the top spot and gets to wait for a winner of the 4/5 matchup. TXWES is 1-2 all-time against Oklahoma Wesleyan but hasn't faced anyone else in the bracket through the 50 years of the program. The Opening Round game will be the 2,601st game since Texas Wesleyan established baseball in 1967.

The nine opening round champions will join Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at the 63rd annual Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, May 24-31. For more information on the World Series, click here. For all Opening Round brackets, click here and for the archive of the full Selection Show, click here.

The field consists of 32 automatic qualifiers – given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up – and 13 at-large teams. Conferences with 10-or-more members receive two automatic qualifiers, while leagues with less than 10 get one. The SAC's automatic qualifiers were No. 7 University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma, who went undefeated through the shortened and soaked conference tournament and the No. 8 Oklahoma City Stars. Texas Wesleyan had a chance to secure the automatic qualifying spot but needed to beat the Stars twice at the end of the bracket. TXWES earned a split and put four balls over the fence in those two games. The Rams won the overall season series with OCU 3-2.

At-large teams were determined by the NAIA Baseball National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council, the president of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.

Matchup Preview: No. 3 Texas Wesleyan (44-14) vs. No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (43-14)

• The Lions are aggressive, ranking 23rd in stolen bases (23rd) but have been caught stealing 36 times - sixth most in the country. Collin Baber is the one to watch out for - tops in the country in stolen bases per game - nearly one per. Compare that to the more passive Rams, who have 64 stolen bases and have been caught stealing just 24 times and there is a contrast in styles. The two teams stolen base percentage - when it's all said and done - are fairly even: .746 for Freed-Hardeman and .727 for the Rams. Watch those baserunners.
• Both teams rank in the top 50 nationally in ERA, with the Lions clocking in 9th (3.46) and the Rams 31st (4.15). TXWES' strikeouts take Freed-Hardeman to the cleaners, 494 - which is second best in the nation - to 422.
• Freed-Hardeman can steal so many bases because all season long they've lived on base. The Lions are 11th in the country in hits (583) and have been walked 245 times. Texas Wesleyan is 26th in hits - 537 - and has taken 239 walks to first.
• Pay close attention to the fourth inning. Both teams jump all over their opponents in the fourth to put games out of reach. The Rams have allowed just 26 runs this season in the fourth frame - best amongst the first seven innings of work while scoring 62 runs themselves in the fourth - second most of any inning outside of the 64 they hit to start the game. The Lions have scored 84 times in the fourth - most in any inning - giving up just 30 runs. This game could be decided by who clamps down here.
• The Lions heavy hitter is Josh Sears - 19 home runs this season, which is seventh in the country. He leads the team in RBI with 67. If Austin Steel is pitching, he doesn't walk anyone - just eight walks all season (4th in the NAIA) despite pitching 89 innings - 18th in the league. The Rams will rely on the steady bats of Caden Williams (.393), Michael Davila (.358) and Brayden Bahnsen (.339) - SAC All-Conference selections - to steady the ship at the plate.

Opening Round Notes

• Overall, there are 28 repeat qualifiers from the 2018 opening round, including seven teams that won opening round titles last season – Antelope Valley (Calif.), Faulkner (Ala.), Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), Georgia Gwinnett, Oklahoma City, Southeastern (Fla.), St. Thomas (Fla.).

• With weather across the country as a factor, no teams in the 2019 field eclipsed the 50-win mark. Tennessee Wesleyan and Southeastern both own the most wins in the field with 48.

• LSU Shreveport (La.) and Tennessee Wesleyan are back in the opening round for an 11th time, which leads the field. These two clubs are the only NAIA teams to have participated in every event since the format was established in 2009. Bellevue (Neb.), Faulkner and Oklahoma City are the only others to have double digit appearances with 10 apiece.

• There are four newcomers to the opening round in this year's field in Baker (Kan.), Columbia (Mo.), Jarvis Christian (Texas) and Thomas (Ga.). Prior to the start of the opening round format, Mobile reached the World Series in 2001.

• Faulkner and Oklahoma City boast the most opening round championships with six each. Sixteen teams in the 2019 field have at least one opening round championship to their credit.

• The Golden State Athletic Conference and The Sun Conference lead all leagues with four teams in the 2019 field. Seven leagues checked-in with three teams.