The 2014 NAIA baseball tournament was the 58th edition of the NAIA baseball championship. The 46-team tournament began on May 12 with Opening Round games across nine different sites and concluded with the 2014 NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho that began on May 23 and ended on May 30.
Cumberland (TN) defeated Lewis–Clark State (ID) 3–0 in the championship game for their 3rd title in program history. Cumberland became the first and as of 2024, the only team to ever win an NAIA World Series title as a 10 seed since seeding began in 2003. This is also the most recent shutout in an NAIA baseball championship game.[1]
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, which were determined by the final NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. 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.
This would be the final year in which at-large berths were awarded based off the final Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
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 final NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.[2]
Opening round hosts
On April 15, the NAIA announced the nine opening round host sites, which were played from May 12–15.[3]
WP: Anthony Gomez (7–4) LP: Ty Jackson (4–1) Attendance: 5010 Umpires: HP: Tim Farwig, 1B: Tracy Roles, 2B: Dwayne Finley, 3B: Cory Spangler, LF: Shannon Bunger, RF: Steve Miller Boxscore