Wolf Pack baseball begins NAIA World Series Friday

LEWISTON, Idaho – The Loyola Wolf Pack baseball team has made their first-ever trip to Lewiston, Idaho, for the 2025 Avista NAIA Baseball World Series, and they're scheduled to begin the 10-team tournament at 5 p.m. CDT on Friday, May 23. The Wolf Pack is the No. 8 seed in the tournament, and they'll match up with No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan in a first-round contest.
 

Loyola (41-16) won the Waleska, Georgia, Opening Round to earn the program's first trip to the NAIA National Championship final site, defeating No. 25 Oakland City, No. 5 Reinhardt and (RV) Ave Maria in the process. A week prior, the Wolf Pack claimed the SSAC Championship title for the first time in program history as well.
 

While this will be the program's first trip to the World Series, this year marks Jeremy Kennedy's third trip as a head coach. He's only the second coach in NAIA history to bring three different programs to the Series, making trips in 2013 with Northwood (Texas) and in 2017 Keiser (Fla.)
 

Tennessee Wesleyan is 46-12 overall and was a mainstay in the NAIA Top 5 all season after earning NAIA World Series runner-up honors in 2024. The Bulldogs were second behind Reinhardt in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, but they won the conference tournament with a 4-2 victory over the Eagles. They started the Kingsport, Tennessee, Opening round with a win over Indiana Tech before No. 20 Columbia College (Mo.) sent them to the loser's bracket. TWU, however, beat (RV) Cumberland (Tenn.) and Columbia twice to earn another trip to Lewiston. 
 

The Bulldogs are battle-tested, too, playing 20 games against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. They're 15-5 in those contests.  
 

The winner of the Loyola-Tennessee Wesleyan matchup will take on the winner of No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett and No. 9 British Columbia on Monday, May 26, at 5 p.m. CDT. The losers will play an elimination game at 8:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday, May 24. 
 

Georgia Gwinnett is 53-5 overall this season and British Columbia is 39-17. GGC hosted and won the Lawrenceville, Georgia, Opening Round in five games after falling into the loser's bracket. British Columbia was the No. 3 seed at the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Opening Round, sweeping through that tournament with a win over No. 11 Oklahoma Wesleyan and two wins against No. 18 Indiana Southeast. 
 

No. 1 LSU Shreveport enters the World Series with a perfect 54-0 record, and it'll first take on No. 10 Grand View (38-12). The NAIA defending champs, Hope International (46-8), is the No. 4 seed, matching up with No. 7 Cumberlands (48-10). Rounding out the first-round matchups are two Sun Conference foes, No. 5 Webber International (44-13) and No. 6 Southeastern (44-13). 
 

Bracket | Game Notes | Watch Live

NAIA World Series Schedule

All times Central
Friday, May 23
Game 1 | 10:30 a.m. | No. 4 Hope International (Calif.) vs. No. 7 Cumberlands (Ky.)
Game 2 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 1 LSU Shreveport vs. No. 10 Grand View (Iowa)
Game 3 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan vs. No. 8 Loyola
Game 4 | 9:00 p.m. | No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett vs. No. 9 British Columbia

Saturday, May 24
Game 5 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 5 Webber International (Fla.) vs. No. 6 Southeastern (Fla.)
Game 6 | 5:00 p.m. | Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Game 7 | 8:30 p.m. | Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4

Monday, May 26
Game 8 | 1:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7
Game 9 | 5:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 10 | 8:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2

Tuesday, May 27
Game 11 | 1:00 p.m. | Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 9
Game 12 | 5:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 10
Game 13 | 8:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 5

Wednesday, May 28
Game 14 | 5:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 11 vs. Loser of Game 13
Game 15 | 8:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 13

Thursday, May 29
Game 16 | 5:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 14 vs. Loser of Game 15
Game 17 | 8:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 12 vs. Winner of Game 15

Friday, May 30
Game 18 | 8:30 p.m. | Potential Semifinal or Championship Game

Saturday, May 31
Game 19 | 8:30 p.m. | If necessary, Championship Game
(If after Game 17 three teams remain, the team with the most games played receives a bye to Game 19. If there is a tie for games played, the team that won the head-to-head matchup in the tournament shall receive a bye to Game 19. If the tie is still not able to be broken, the higher seed shall advance to Game 19.)
 

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