NAIA Qualifiers Release | NAIA Opening Round Schedule
SEWARD, Neb. – The 46-team field for the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round has been finalized. While gathered as a team on Wednesday (May 6) afternoon, Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball learned it will be the No. 3 seed in the Salina Bracket hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University. Head Coach Ryan Dupic has guided the Bulldogs to the national tournament for the eighth time since the start of the 2017 season. Concordia carries an overall record of 37-16 into the national tournament after placing second in the GPAC in both the regular season and postseason.
The field at the Salina bracket will include host Kansas Wesleyan in addition to Johnson University (Tenn.) and Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas). The complete schedule is included below.
2026 NAIA Opening Round – Salina Bracket
Site: Dean Evans Stadium | Salina, Kan.
Live Webcasts: Urban Edge Network
Live Stats: Presto Stats
Monday, May 11
Game 1 – (2) Kansas Wesleyan vs. (3) Concordia, 11 a.m.
Game 2 – (1) Johnson (Tenn.) vs. No. 4 Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 12
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 11 a.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 13
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 11 a.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 14
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner/Loser (if necessary), 11 a.m.
Tickets (purchase on site):
Single-Session Adult – $10
Single-Session Child (Ages 18 and under) – $5 (5 and under free)
By the Numbers
• The Bulldogs have advanced to the 2026 NAIA Opening Round as an automatic qualifier. Concordia placed second in the GPAC regular season (22-6 league mark) and finished as the conference tournament runner up. The beat goes on for Dupic’s program, which redefined itself this spring after saying goodbye to superstar position players Jaidan Quinn (2x GPAC Player of the Year), Ty Nekoliczak and Matt Rhoades after the 2025 GPAC championship season. The 2026 team contended for a conference title with a balanced roster. The current Bulldogs are slashing .290/.423/.509 while averaging 7.47 runs per game offensively. On the pitching and defense side of the game, Concordia sports a 4.62 ERA and .963 fielding percentage. The Bulldogs lead the nation with an average of 11.97 strikeouts per nine innings. Concordia has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 396-231 in 53 games.
• In seven previous national tournament experiences, the Bulldogs have gone a combined 14-13. A No. 2 seed in the 2025 NAIA Opening Round, Concordia served as an opening round host for the first time in program history. The Bulldogs wound up going 1-2 at Sherman Field in Lincoln. The win came over the University of Science & Arts (Okla.), 5-4. In the bottom of the ninth, Michael Welch’s sacrifice fly plated Zackery Day for the walk-off run. Concordia then lost to No. 7 Webber International University (Fla.), 3-0, and to Indiana Wesleyan University, 8-7 in 16 innings, while being eliminated. Webber International went on to reach the NAIA World Series. The 16-inning marathon with Indiana Wesleyan marked the Bulldogs’ lengthiest ever national tournament game. In that contest, reliever Seth Claybourne threw 8.1 innings without allowing an earned run in his final collegiate appearance. Under Dupic’s direction, Concordia has won at least one game in each of its seven national tournament appearances.
• On Tuesday (May 5), 10 Bulldogs were named 2026 GPAC All-Conference award winners. Alex Johnson was honored as the GPAC Pitcher of the Year for the second year in a row. Johnson was joined with first team all-conference accolades by teammates in senior outfielder Bronx Lewis, junior pitcher Warren Rose, sophomore catcher Jake Watson and junior outfielder Luke Wilson. Graduate student pitcher Caden Bugarske landed on the second team. Lastly, honorable mention distinction went to junior pitcher Sam Bespoyasny, junior first baseman Carson Burnett, senior second baseman Jaeden Jordahl and freshman pitcher Trent Schlim. Below are season statistics for Concordia’s all-conference position players. Lewis leads the GPAC and ranks in tie for third nationally with his 23 home runs.
--Carson Burnett: .316 BA / .470 OBP / .520 SLG / 36 R / 11 2B / 6 HR / 38 RBI / 6 SB / 51 G.
--Jaeden Jordahl: .300 BA / .481 OBP / .459 SLG / 55 R / 9 2B / 6 HR / 32 RB / 12 SB / 53 G.
--Bronx Lewis: .347 BA / .496 OBP / .815 SLG / 68 R / 10 2B / 23 HR / 56 RBI / 19 SB / 53 G.
--Jake Watson: .369 BA / .463 OBP / .650 SLG / 16 R / 15 2B / 9 HR / 55 RBI / 47 G.
--Luke Wilson: .325 BA / .416 OBP / .578 SLG / 29 R / 5 2B / 2 3B / 10 HR / 43 RBI / 45 G.
• The pitching staff is noted for its ability to miss bats. Alex Johnson leads all GPAC pitchers with 98 strikeouts (14.62 per nine innings) this season. Among Concordia pitchers with at least 10 innings this season, the leaders in K’s per nine innings are Micah Sweeton (15.46), Harrison Hoiekvam (15.43), Warren Rose (14.63), Johnson (14.62), DJ Andersen (13.75), Daiten Schmidt (11.57), Trent Schlim (11.05), Caden Bugarske (10.87) and Devin Gonor (10.02). Johnson, Sweeton, Bugarske, Bespoyasny and Gonor have each made at least seven starts this season. Out of the bullpen, three different pitchers have notched at least two saves. Below is a closer look at the numbers produced by the Bulldogs’ top arms in 2026.
--Alex Johnson: 7-2 W-L / 3.88 ERA / 60.1 IP (12 GS) / 29 BB / 98 K / .228 Opp BA.
--Micah Sweeton: 4-2 W-L / 2.08 ERA / 39 IP (8 GS) / 11 BB / 67 K / .189 Opp BA.
--Caden Bugarske: 5-3 W-L / 3.74 ERA / 53 IP (13 G) / 24 BB / 64 K / .257 Opp BA.
--Sam Bespoyasny: 5-1 W-L / 3.43 ERA / 42 IP (10 G) / 17 BB / 37 K / .250 Opp BA.
--Devin Gonor: 4-1 W-L / 5.11 ERA / 44 IP (11 G) / 17 BB / 49 K / .268 Opp BA.
--Warren Rose: 3-1 W-L / 2 SV / 2.25 ERA / 24 IP / 15 BB / 39 K / .207 Opp BA.
--Trent Schlim: 3-1 W-L / 4 SV / 3.68 ERA / 22 IP / 7 BB / 27 K / .259 Opp BA.
--DJ Andersen: 0-1 W-L / 3 SV / 3.57 ERA / 17.2 IP / 10 BB / 27 K / .269 Opp BA.
--Harrison Hoiekvam: 2-0 W-L / 3 SV / 4.34 ERA / 18.2 IP / 3 BB / 32 K / .221 Opp BA.
• Several Bulldogs have reached milestone achievements this 2026 season. In the GPAC tournament, Ryan Dupic hit the 400-win mark in what is currently his 12th season as head coach. Most notably from a player perspective, Alex Johnson became the program’s all-time strikeout leader (currently at 309) and surpassed 300 career strikeouts. Another new program standard came from catcher Jake Watson, whose 444 putouts are the most in a single season in school history. Additionally, Zackery Day pushed his school record career stolen base total past 100 (105), Caden Bugarske hit the 200-K mark (207) in his career and both Jaeden Jordahl and Bronx Lewis notched their 100th hits as Bulldogs.
• During the regular season, Concordia went head-to-head with three teams that qualified for the 2026 Opening Round: No. 2 Bellevue, No. 9 Kansas Wesleyan and No. 10 Doane. The Bulldogs went a combined 3-5 against those opponents with a victory over Bellevue and two over Doane. In the official NAIA RPI released following the conference tournaments, Concordia appeared at No. 29 (with a strength of schedule rated No. 60).
Salina Bracket Opposition
(1) Johnson University (Tenn.) | Record: 37-12 | RPI: 7 – Johnson competes as a member of the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Royals received an at-large bid to the national tournament after going 1-2 at the AAC tournament. A longtime NCAA Division I head coach, Dave Serrano has quickly elevated the program since arriving ahead of the 2024 season. The 2025 squad became the first in school history to qualify for the NAIA Opening Round. The 2026 edition placed second in the AAC regular season standings and broke into the top five of the NAIA coaches’ poll (No. 6 in the April 29 poll). Offensively, Johnson has slashed .298/.415/.416 while averaging 7.57 runs per game. The top regulars in the lineup have been Luke Wilson (.368/.450/.409), Travis Hobbensiefken (.347/.428/.509) and JJ Menesini (.318/.498/.419). The pitching staff possesses a strong 4.39 ERA. The team’s top rotation arms are Colby Reynolds (11-2, 3.24 ERA, 91.2 IP, 7.56 K/9), Tyler Barfield (10-3, 5.43 ERA, 68 IP, 7.41 K/9) and Jacob Jacome (5-3, 3.92 ERA, 64.1 IP, 4.76 K/9). Johnson, located in Knoxville, Tenn., is battle tested having played the NAIA’s 20th most challenging schedule.
(2) Kansas Wesleyan University | Record: 48-7 | RPI: 11 – Kansas Wesleyan is a familiar foe for Concordia. The two sides met in Salina on April 1 with the result being a 4-1 win for the Coyotes. Currently in his 12th season leading the program, Bill Neale has taken KWU to the national tournament for the fifth straight year (with four consecutive seasons of 40+ wins). The 2024 team took it a step farther by winning the Shreveport Bracket and advancing to the NAIA World Series for the first time in program history. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference champions will trot out a potent offense that sports NAIA national rankings of first in home runs (127), first in slugging percentage (.646), first in runs scored (609), second in batting average (.358) and third in on-base percentage (.470). Three players have launched at least 20 homers this season: Carter Allen (22), Fernando Ruvalcaba (21) and Chris Finocchario (20). Meanwhile, the pitching staff boasts a 4.45 team ERA. The top rotation arms include Shaw Lee (8-2, 3.69 ERA, 75.2 IP, 5.83 K/9), Thalen Wright (5-0, 4.25 ERA, 72 IP, 6.25 K/9) and Wil Yamka (7-2, 3.88 ERA, 46.1 IP, 11.07 K/9). Out of the bullpen, Riley Gwin (7-1, 2.96 ERA, 67 IP, 10.34 K/9) has made 30 appearances.
(4) Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) | Record: 34-8 | RPI: 21 – Our Lady of the Lake garnered an at-large national tournament bid out of the Red River Athletic Conference. The Saints will make the program’s second all-time Opening Round appearance (first since 2021). Head Coach Matt Piker has led OLLU to three 30-win seasons since his tenure began in 2022. The ’26 squad is like by the likes of all-conference selections in first teamers Jack Kalisky (1B) and Diego Zuniga (C) and four second teamers. Kalisky was also named to the RRAC’s gold glove team. He is slashing .393/.522/.630 with seven home runs and 46 RBIs. As a team, the Saints are slashing .315/.421/.427 while averaging 7.07 runs per game. The pitching staff ERA sits at 4.03 to go along with a team fielding percentage of .967. Two pitchers were named RRAC All-Conference: Noah Ferraro (8-2, 3.13 ERA, 74.2 IP, 6.27 K/9) and Donovan Gamez (8-5, 4.06 ERA, 82 IP, 9.11 K/9). OLLU played a schedule ranked 27th most difficult in the NAIA. The Saints will be aiming for their first ever win on the national stage.
Facts about Concordia at the national tournament
• A 2021 NAIA World Series qualifier, Concordia will appear in the opening round of the national tournament for the eighth time in program history. Each of those appearances have come during the tenure of Ryan Dupic, who first took the Bulldogs to the opening round in 2017. In previous appearances, the Bulldogs made their way to Hutchinson, Kan., in 2017, to Henderson, Tenn., in 2019, to Bellevue, Neb., in both 2021 and 2022, to Lawrenceville, Ga., in 2023, to Bossier City, La., in 2024 before hosting in Lincoln in 2025. Concordia is 14-13 all-time in opening round games and has won at least one national tournament game in each of the seven prior appearances. Opening round wins have come over Jamestown (2017), Clarke University (2019), MidAmerica Nazarene University (twice in 2021), Bellevue (twice in 2021 and once in 2022), Central Methodist University (2022), Judson University (2022), Tabor College (2022), Saint Xavier University (2023), Midway University (2023), Blue Mountain College (2024) and University of Science & Arts (2025).
• It’s been rare for a GPAC team to reach the NAIA World Series. In fact, only once before Concordia reached that stage in 2021 had a GPAC squad advanced to the World Series – Briar Cliff accomplished that feat in 2005. One current GPAC member appeared in the World Series before the league formed: Morningside in 1960. Briar Cliff went 0-2 in its 2005 trip to the World Series. No GPAC team has ever won a game at the World Series.
• The ’22 Bulldogs came within one win of a return trip to the World Series. While being sent to Bellevue for a second year in a row, Concordia dropped its first game of the tournament (5-1 to Judson) and then rallied back to claim four straight victories. The Bulldogs turned heads when they routed host and sixth-ranked Bellevue, 16-2, to force a winner-take-all contest. In that blowout, Concordia went deep six times with one home run apiece coming from Jay Adams, Joey Grabanski, Jaidan Quinn, Keaton Candor, Jesse Garcia and Teyt Johnson. Caden Johnson fired seven strong innings in the triumph. Ultimately, the Bruins took the next game, 5-2, and booked their trip to the NAIA World Series. In 2023, the Bulldogs traveled to the home of Georgia Gwinnett and went 2-2. They were eliminated by Freed-Hardeman University in a game they led 8-5 after eight innings. A win in that contest would have put Concordia in the finals of the opening round against the host team. In both the 2024 and 2025 opening round appearances, the Bulldogs went 1-2 before being eliminated. While hosting an opening round for the first time (in 2025), Concordia defeated Science & Arts, 5-4, before falling to No. 7 Webber International (Fla), 3-0, and then Indiana Wesleyan, 8-7, in 16 innings.
• While going 4-1 during the 2021 opening round, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents, 38-32. Four of the games were played at Brown Park in Omaha while one contest was played at Don Roddy Field in Bellevue. Keaton Candor paced the team at the plate in the opening round by going 8-for-23 (.348) with four doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs. Jakob Faulk also pounded three home runs (including two in the clinching game) and Jesse Garcia belted two blasts. Twelve different pitchers were used. Nick Little (9 IP) and Caden Bugarske (8.1 IP) logged the most innings during the opening round. Nathan Buckallew earned credit for two wins.
• Dupic has brought about what is certainly the golden age of Concordia Baseball. Prior to Dupic’s arrival in 2015, the Bulldogs had never been to a national tournament. The program had also not experienced a winning season since 1979 and had not won a conference championship since 1986 (8-4 in NIAC play) when Athletic Trainer Randy Baack pitched and played first base. In addition to leading Concordia to eight national tournaments, Dupic (402-207-1) became the winningest coach in program history as part of the 2024 season. During Dupic’s tenure (2015-present), the Bulldogs lead all GPAC baseball programs in overall wins (402), GPAC regular season wins (206), overall winning percentage (.660), conference regular season winning percentage (.705) and total GPAC championships (eight).
• The 2017 Bulldogs won the GPAC regular season title (tournament runner up) and became the first national tournament qualifier in program history. As part of that run, Casey Berg (older brother of current assistant Ben Berg) recorded the program’s first-ever hit at the national tournament with a single in the bottom of the first versus Jamestown on May 15, 2017. That appearance helped pave the way for the success Concordia is enjoying now. The 2026 national tournament roster features two pitchers set to make their fourth career appearances at the opening round: Caden Bugarske and Alex Johnson. Both hurlers are links back to the 2021 World Series team. The list of Bulldogs who are on the national tournament roster for a third straight year includes Jimmy Blumberg, Zackery Day and Alex Draper.
NAIA Baseball World Series
The winners of all 10 opening round sites will head to Lewis-Clark State College for the 69th annual Avista NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, May 22-30. For more information on the World Series, click HERE.