Shreveport Bracket Teams Announced
Shreveport, LA - The NAIA has officially announced the four teams that will be joining the Pilots in the Shreveport Bracket of the NAIA Baseball Opening Rounds. The Pilots will be hosting for the third consecutive year and will welcome four schools from across the country. LSUS will be the one seed, followed by Concordia (Neb.) as the two seed, Kansas Wesleyan as the three seed, Talladega as the four seed, and Blue Mountain Christian as the five seed. This bracket will be packed with offensive firepower, so fans should be treated to some exciting baseball over the next week. More information is available on the Tournament Central page at https://lsusathletics.com/opening_round_pages/2024_bsb_opening_round.
2024 has been another great year for Pilot baseball. The regular season concluded with a third consecutive Red River Athletic Conference regular season championship and a 20th consecutive trip to the NAIA National Tournament. LSUS has also surpassed the 40 win mark for the fifth consecutive season (not including the covid season in 2020). Isaac Rohde has been dominating on the mound and was the first player in the NAIA to reach 100 strikeouts this season. He was named the RRAC Pitcher of the Year and a first team All-RRAC selection. Vantrel Reed was also stellar for LSUS as he was named the RRAC Player of the Year as well as a first team All-RRAC selection. LSUS placed five more on the RRAC first team in (SP) Draven Zeigler, (SS) Jose Sallorin, (3B) Josh Gibson, (OF) Trevor Burkhart, and (RP) David Hankins. Second team honors went to (1B) Angel Rodriguez, (C) Diego Aragon, (OF) Jose Aquino, (OF) Ryan Davenport, (SP) AJ Fritz, (RP) Chase Guitreau.
LSUS made back-to-back trip to the World Series in Lewiston, ID in 2021 and 2022 and look for find their way back there in 2024. They are eager to avenge their heart breaking loss in the ninth inning last season and make their sixth trip to Lewiston overall. Winners from the 10 Opening Round sites will meet in Idaho the following week to crown a National Champion.
The Pilots will play on Monday night at 6pm against the winner of the (4) Talladega/(5) Blue Mountain Christian game. Tickets can be purchased online at https://lsusathletics.com/tickets or purchased at the gate for $10. Tournament passes are also avilable for $25. The games will be streamed for free at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lsus/, but fans are encouraged to come out and witness the action live under the bright lights of Pilot Field.
The tournament will be updated on the NAIA Tournament Central website at https://www.naia.org/sports/bsb/2023-24/Releases/Opening_Round. If the Pilots win their first game on Monday night they will play again on Tuesday at 2:30pm.
Shreveport Bracket Schedule
All times CDT
Monday, May 13
Game 1 – (4) Talladega vs. (5) Blue Mountain Christian, 11 a.m.
Game 2 – (2) Concordia vs. (3) Kansas Wesleyan, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 – (1) LSU Shreveport vs. Game 1 Winner, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 14
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 11 a.m.
Game 5 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 15
Game 7 – Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 8 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 16
Game 9 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (if necessary), 11 a.m.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information and updates on LSUS Athletics please visit lsusathletics.com, 'like' us on Facebook at LSU Shreveport Athletics or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @lsus_athletics and @lsusathletics