Baseball off to Mississippi, will face Houston-Victoria in national opener

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Already locked into an NAIA National Tournament berth, the Union baseball team learned who and where it will play on Thursday.

The Bulldogs landed the fourth seed in the five-team Hattiesburg Regional and will open against No. 5 seed Houston-Victoria (Texas) in the first game of the tournament at 11 a.m. local time (Hattiesburg is one hour behind Barbourville) on Monday, May 15. If victorious, the Bulldogs will turn around and play tourney host and top-seed William Carey at approximately 6 p.m. Monday afternoon.

Elsewhere on Monday, No. 2 Texas Wesleyan will face No. 3 Ave Marie immediately following Union's game. A full tournament schedule for the double elimination tournament can be found below

This is the Bulldogs' first appearance in the national field since 2019 and just the second time they've qualified since 2012. The ten teams that make it out of the opening round will play in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho on May 26-June 2.

Tickets can be purchased by clicking here. Links for live stream and stats will be posted soon.

Hattiesburg Regional Schedule

MAY 15
Game one: No. 4 Union vs. No. 5 Houston-Victoria (Texas), 11 a.m.
Game two: No. 2 Texas Wesleyan vs. No. 3 Ave Maria (Fla.), 2:30 p.m.
Game three: No. 1 William Carey (Miss.) vs. Game one winner, 6 p.m.

MAY 16
Game four: Game one loser vs. Game two loser, 11 a.m.
Game five: Game two winner vs. Game three winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game six: Game three loser vs. Game four winner, 6 p.m.

MAY 17
Game seven: Game six winner vs. Game five loser, 11 a.m.
Game eight: Game five winner vs. Game seven winner, 2:30 p.m.

MAY 18
Game nine (if necessary): Game eight winner vs. Game eight loser, 12 p.m.