May 9, 2025

2025 Upland Bracket Opening Round Preview

UPLAND, Ind. – The 2025 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round is slated to commence Monday, May 12, with the No. 9 Taylor baseball team (46-9) hosting the four-team Upland Bracket at Winterholter Field as the top seed – the first time in program history TU has been the No. 1 seed in Opening Round action.

After sweeping the Crossroads League Regular Season and Tournament Championships, the Trojans earned an automatic bid to their 10th national tournament, including having made it each of the past four seasons. No. 9 TU is 10-16 all-time in the Opening Round, with half of those wins occurring in the previous three years at Winterholter Field.

The 2025 Trojans boast nine All-Crossroads League players, including two-time Pitcher of the Year Gabel Pentecost and the current and former Players of the Year in Kaleb Kolpien and Mason David, respectively.

TU has gotten dominant pitching all season long, ranking as the NAIA's second-stingiest staff with a 1.15 WHIP that slots in only behind undefeated, No. 1 LSU Shreveport. With the overpowering arms of Brody Fine, Jake Boyer and Pentecost, and with Conner Miller, Nathan Frady, Wes Hunt and Gage Gongwer having career seasons, the Trojans are third in the nation in both ERA (3.60) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.70).

The Trojan lineup has also proved capable of carrying a team that has gone on separate double-digit-game winning streaks this season. With six all-league players in the batting order, TU has hit .335 with 81 home runs for a slugging percentage of .553 – all figures that are top-20 in the NAIA. Patience has also been a prominent virtue, with the Purple and Grey drawing the nation's third most walks (354) to help account for a .464 on-base percentage that ranks sixth.

Taylor has already clinched its most wins and best winning percentage in program history this season, but it eyes loftier goals as the program seeks its third NAIA World Series appearance.

In order to advance to the 2025 Avista NAIA Baseball World Series beginning May 23, TU must come out on top in a double-elimination tournament that includes No. 17 Bellevue (40-13), RV Kansas Wesleyan (39-13) and RV Grand View (34-11). Taylor begins Opening Round play facing Grand View for Monday's 4 p.m. contest.

The first game of the Opening Round – Upland Bracket pits second-seeded Bellevue against third-seeded Kansas Wesleyan at noon on Monday.

The Bruins of Bellevue boast the most National Tournament experience of the four teams with an all-time Opening Round record of 28-22. They also boast the winningest coach, Duane Monlux, who has a career record of 851-393-5, including 619-226-3 in 15 seasons at Bellevue.

This year, the Bruins swept the North Star Athletic Association conference championships. Their pitching rotation features four reliable arms – Parker McMan, Kenji Miller, Gavin Wuschke and Jace Wessels – each of whom have logged 60-plus innings, with three of the four posting ERAs of 3.33 or better. Bellevue's lineup hits for a .324 average and features top-heavy power, helping the team to 91 home runs paced by the bats of Steven Elsner, Logan Grant and Ayden Makarus.

KWU, meanwhile, finished as co-regular season champions and outright tournament champions in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Coyotes are making their seventh Opening Round appearance and are coming off their first World Series showing in 2024.

Under 11th-year head coach Bill Neale, Kansas Wesleyan has displayed well-rounded power and speed in 2025 with a bracket-best 93 home runs and 96 stolen bases. Catcher Tyler Favretto is among the NAIA's top talents, leading the nation with a .591 on-base percentage and tying for the most walks with 61. Favretto also carries a .432 batting average and .781 slugging percentage with his 14 homers and 34 extra-base hits. The Coyotes' pitching staff is led by workhorse Brett Maddock with his 98.1 innings pitched and 11-2 record, helping the rotation to a 4.79 ERA.

Grand View rounds out the bracket as the fourth seed and as the only team that did not appear in the Opening Round in 2024. The Vikings' national tournament appearance is their sixth all-time, and they earned an at-large bid, aided by their first-place regular-season finish in the Heart of America Conference.

With third-year coach Doug Brinker at the helm, Grand View has hit for the highest average among the four squads at .357, led by Erik Broekemeier and Evan Borst. The Vikings claimed both the Heart Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year honors in Brock Rinehart and Kaleb Krier, respectively, with Krier dominating opponents with an 8-0 record and 2.35 ERA.

Following Monday's action, the Tuesday-Wednesday slate of games are also scheduled for noon and 4 p.m., with an if-necessary championship game set for Thursday, May 15, at 11 a.m.

For those interested in attending the games live at Winterholter Field, tickets are available for purchase online at TaylorTrojans.com/UplandBracket25. Day passes are $10 for adults and $5 for students ages 18 and under, while tournament passes are $25. Tickets can also be purchased on-site with cash only.

Tickets are free for children ages five and under to all games, and for Taylor University students with a valid student ID.

For those watching from home, every game will be streamed live at no cost on the Taylor Athletics YouTube page. Photos from all tournament games can be viewed on Smugmug at NAIAOpeningRound25 - Taylor Trojans Media.

All information relevant to the Opening Round – Upland Bracket can be found at TaylorTrojans.com/UplandBracket25, including an updated bracket as the tournament unfolds.