Oklahoma City – After claiming their first regular season championship on the diamond, Wayland Baptist will enter the 2025 Sooner Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament as the top seed in the championship beginning this Friday.
There is a new format for the tournament this year, as the top four seeded teams will host a best-of-three series starting on Friday, April 25. The four teams that win their opening round series will advance to play in a double-elimination tournament at Science & Arts beginning on Friday, May 2.
The Pioneers are currently receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches Top 25. They finished the regular season with an overall record of 34-14 and a league-best mark of 22-5. Mid-America Christian, the No. 2 seed, will join them in hosting first-round matchups. Science & Arts will claim the No. 3 seed, and Southwestern Christian will earn the No. 4 seed.
The Pioneers will welcome No. 8 seed Texas Wesleyan to Wilder Field in Plainview, Texas, starting at 2 p.m. on Friday. The Rams wrapped up the regular season with an overall record of 16-29 with a league mark of 11-16 as they earned the No. 8 seed via tiebreakers. Wayland Baptist swept the regular season series 3-0 when the two teams met back in March.
The Evangels are currently ranked No. 19 in the latest Coaches Poll and will host No. 7 seed Nelson at the MACU Baseball Field starting Friday at 4 p.m. Mid-America Christian wrapped up the regular season with an overall record of 35-13 and a conference mark of 20-7. The Lions completed the year with an overall record of 23-24 and a league record of 11-16 as they held the tiebreaker over Texas Wesleyan. The Evangels claimed a 2-1 series victory earlier this spring over Nelson.
The Drovers claimed the No. 3 seed with an overall record of 29-16 and conference mark of 18-9 and are currently receiving votes in the latest Coaches Poll as they will host No. 6 College of the Ozarks at Bill Smith Ballpark starting at 4 p.m. Friday. The Bobcats completed their first season in the SAC with an overall record of 20-26 and a league record of 11-15. College of the Ozarks won the regular season series 2-1 at home earlier this spring.
In the final first-round series, Southwestern Christian will play No. 5 seed Oklahoma City at Eagle Field at Dolese Park in Bethany, Okla., starting Friday at noon. The Eagles finished the regular season with an overall record of 32-14 and a league mark of 17-10. The Stars join the field with an overall record of 17-23 and a league record of 12-15. The Eagles took the regular season series 2-1 earlier this spring.