SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – History will be made on Monday, when the Corban University baseball team competes in its first-ever NAIA National Tournament game at the Opening Round in Santa Barbara, Calif. The Warriors will be among five teams vying for a berth to the Avista NAIA World Series on May 28-June 4.

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In total, 45 teams from across the country will be competing for a World Series bid at nine different opening round sites. In the Santa Barbara bracket, Corban will serve as the No. 5 seed, competing against No. 6-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College (No. 1 seed), No. 14-ranked Hope International University (No. 2 seed), (RV) Westmont College (No. 3 seed), and University of Saint Katherine (No. 4 seed).

Corban will play on Monday morning against Saint Katherine in the first game of the tournament, with the winner advancing to play top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett later in the afternoon on the same day, and the loser moving to the elimination side of the double-elimination tournament.

The Warriors earned their place as the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament Runner-Up, laying claim to a 22-29 overall record. Twelve of the squad's 29 losses this spring came against teams ranked in the NAIA top-10.

The Navy and Gold has been playing some of its best baseball of the season as of late, however, getting hot at the perfect time. Conference Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon (6-2, 1.88 ERA) has been dominant all spring, and fellow starters Mason Shaw and Nate Martin have been steady on the hill throughout the stretch run.

Offensively, outfielders Morgan Hostetler (.290, 28 RBI) and Chris Grayson (.294, 23 RBI) have been hot at the dish. Reese Fawley has been the squad's top run producer this year, driving in a team-high 37 runs and tied with Dakota Fingar for the team-lead in homers with seven. Seniors Justin Tow (.258, 3 HR, 27 RBI) and Nate Cantonwine (.325, 6 HR, 22 RBI) have each surpassed the 20-RBI plateau, and Estenio Sede is batting .345 (10-for-29) since returning to the lineup on May 1.

Saint Katherine (29-16) earned its berth via the California Pacific Conference Tournament title, serving as the surprise victor out of the Cal-Pac Championship. The Firebirds boast three hitters above the .400 average mark, led offensively by Dylan Jacob (.452, 18 HR, 51 RBI), Casey Peterson (.434, 9 HR, 44 RBI), and Brady Ware (.411, 11 HR, 37 RBI). Starting pitching has been inconsistent for USK—surrendering 6.44 runs per game in 2021—with Kyle Huett (5-2, 3.86 ERA) serving as the squad's most reliable arm this spring.

Top-seeded and sixth-ranked Georgia Gwinnett (42-9) has been a perennial national powerhouse since the program's inception in 2013. The Grizzlies are making their seventh appearance in the NAIA Opening Round, and have advanced to the Avista NAIA World Series in the last two national tournaments (2019 and 2018). The team qualified this year by winning the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) Championship, and GGC ranks second in the NAIA in team batting average (.374), third in total runs (570), and fourth in hits per game (12).

The potent Grizzly offense is led by standout Griffin Keller, who has started all 51 games for the Grizzlies and carries a .495 batting average and 1.427 OPS into the Opening Round, clubbing 12 homers and driving in 75 runs so far this spring.

No. 14-ranked Hope International (27-13) went 22-10 in Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) competition, finishing with the same regular-season record as No. 10-ranked Vanguard. The Royals—who will serve as the two seed next week—boast the 2021 GSAC Player of the Year in Tony Monroy (.370, 11 HR, 40 RBI) and the conference's Pitcher of the Year in Izzy Fuentes (7-3, 3.34 ERA).

Serving as the tournament host, Westmont enters next week's action with a 27-18 record, earning an at-large bid to the NAIA Opening Round. The Warriors from Santa Barbara depend heavily on the top of their order, as three of their first four hitters in the lineup were named to the All-GSAC team. Leadoff man John Jensen touts an OPS of 1.077, and has blasted a team-leading 13 long balls in 2021. One of Westmont's top run producers, cleanup hitter Thomas Rudinsky has belted nine roundtrippers, and is right behind Jensen with an OPS of 1.073. Simon Reid, who was named the 2021 GSAC Freshman of the Year, is currently hitting .377, and will be another player to watch in the tournament.

The winner of the Santa Barbara Bracket will join No. 5-ranked Lewis-Clark State College and the other nine opening-round site victors at the Avista NAIA World Series on May 28-June 4. The NAIA World Series is hosted at a familiar locale for the Navy and Gold, LC State's Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.