- Source: 2018 NAIA baseball tournament
The 2018 NAIA baseball tournament was the 62nd edition of the NAIA baseball championship. The 46-team tournament began on May 14 with Opening Round games across nine different sites and concluded with the 2018 NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho that began on May 25 and ended on May 31. Southeastern (FL) defeated Freed–Hardeman (TN) 6–3 in the championship game for their first title in program history and becoming the most recent team to win the NAIA baseball championship in their first World Series appearance. This was also the most recent championship game in which both teams were making their very first NAIA World Series appearance.
The 46 participating teams were selected from all eligible NAIA teams with the World Series host receiving an automatic bid to the NAIA World Series. The remaining 45 teams participated in the Opening Round with 31 teams being awarded automatic bids as either champions and/or runners-up of their conferences, and 14 teams were selected at-large by the National Selection Committee. Teams were then placed into one of nine pre-determined Opening Round sites of five teams a piece, each of which is conducted via a double-elimination tournament. The winners of each of the Opening Round sites plus the World Series host team participated in the NAIA World Series.
Tournament procedure
A total of 46 teams entered the tournament. As World Series host, Lewis–Clark State received an automatic bid into the NAIA World Series. 31 automatic bids were determined by either winning their conference's regular season championship, conference tournament, and/or conference tournament runner-up. The other 14 bids were at-large, with selections determined by the NAIA Baseball National Selection Committee.
Opening round hosts
On May 1, the NAIA announced the nine opening round host sites, which were played from May 14–17.
Bids
= Automatic
== At–Large
=Opening Round
Source:
= Bowling Green Bracket
=Hosted by the Bowling Green CVB at Bowling Green Ballpark
= Hattiesburg Bracket
=Hosted by William Carey (MS) at Milton Wheeler Field
= Kingsport Bracket
=Hosted by Visit Kingsport at Hunter Wright Stadium
= Lawrenceville Bracket
=Hosted by Georgia Gwinnett at Grizzly Baseball Complex
= Lincoln Bracket
=Hosted by Placer Valley Tourism & William Jessup (CA) at McBean Stadium
= Montgomery Bracket
=Hosted by Faulkner (AL) at Harrison Field
= Oklahoma City Bracket
=Hosted by Oklahoma City at Jim Wade Stadium
= Upland Bracket
=Hosted by Taylor (IN) at Winterholter Field
= Williamsburg Bracket
=Hosted by Cumberlands (KY) at Doyle Buhl Stadium
NAIA World Series
The NAIA World Series was held at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
= Participants
== Bracket
=Preliminary Bracket
Championship Bracket
= Game Results
=All game times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00).
Preliminary Bracket
Championship Bracket
Championship Game
See also
2018 NAIA softball tournament
2018 NCAA Division I baseball tournament
2018 NCAA Division II baseball tournament
2018 NCAA Division III baseball tournament