Taylor Lands Top Seed for 2026 AVISTA NAIA Baseball World Series
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The path to a national championship came into focus Friday with the unveiling of the 10-team bracket for the 2026 AVISTA NAIA Baseball World Series, finalized after the conclusion of Opening Round play. Coming off a 3-0 sweep and an Upland Bracket championship, No. 1 Taylor (52-5) holds the top overall seed entering the 69th Annual NAIA Baseball National Championship, which runs May 22-30 at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
The Trojans will kick off their pursuit of a national championship with a matchup against the 10th seed, No. 19 William Carey (38-18). First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. ET on Friday, May 22.
The double-elimination format places the 10 teams in straight 1-through-10 order, with World Series seedings carried over directly from the rankings the NAIA Baseball National Selection Committee set ahead of the Opening Round.
That committee ordered all 46 qualifying teams from 1 to 46 before distributing them across the 10 Opening Round sites. As champions emerged from each site, they slotted into the bracket according to their original overall seed rather than the path they took to get there.
A more detailed preview of the William Carey matchup will be available at TaylorTrojans.com.
The seeds and opening matchups are listed below:
Friday, May 22 (all times pacific)
#4 Doane vs. #7 Mid-America Christian -- 8:30 AM
#1 Taylor vs. #10 William Carey -- 11:30 AM (2:30 PM ET)
#2 Georgia Gwinnett vs. #9 IU Southeast -- 3 PM
#3 Lewis-Clark State vs. #8 Tennessee Wesleyan -- 7 PM
Saturday, May 23
#5 Southeastern (Fla.) vs. #6 Johnson (Tenn.) – 11 AM