Up-For-Grabs CCAC Baseball Tournament Opens Wednesday
JOLIET, Ill. --- The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference begins its up-for-grabs baseball tournament on Wednesday at Slammers Stadium with six teams competing for the right to advance to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. A mere three games separated the six clubs from the top of the standings when the dust had settled following the completion of the 32-game league season, thus creating for the wide-open highway to the postseason title.
Added to that mix between Sunday's final regular-season games and the start of the tournament on Wednesday was an eligibility matter (see conference statement at end of release) that created for a three-way tie for the regular-season title, a revamped tournament grouping and a new top seed.
Judson University (28-21) came out as the No. 1 team after tying both No. 2 seed St. Ambrose University (25-23) and No. 3 Saint Xavier University (27-22) for the regular-season championship with identical 20-12 league records. With their seedings, Judson and St. Ambrose both gain a first-round bye on Wednesday.
The rest of the tournament seeding has first-year member Viterbo University (24-23) as the No. 4 seed, Olivet Nazarene University at No. 5 (23-24) and Indiana University South Bend (22-28) gaining the No. 6 seed on a tie-breaker.
Viterbo and Olivet Nazarene open the tournament on Wednesday at 3 pm. That is followed by Saint Xavier and Indiana South Bend going head-to-head at 6 pm.
Wednesday's first-game winner gains the right to face Judson in the opening game on Thursday at 10 am. That will be followed by St. Ambrose meeting the winner of the Saint Xavier-Indiana South Bend contest at 1 pm. Elimination games follow at 4 and 7 pm.
The double-elimination tournament runs through Saturday when a champion is crowned. That winner earns the conference's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round May 12-15.
Slammers Stadium in downtown Joliet will again serve as the tournament site with University of St. Francis and the Joliet Slammers serving as the hosts.
For the complete tournament bracket, go to Bracket.
The complete schedule follows:
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Game #1: No. 5 Seed Olivet Nazarene (23-24) vs. No. 4 Seed Viterbo (24-23) --- 3 pm
Game #2: No. 6 Seed Indiana South Bend (22-28) vs. No. 3 Seed Saint Xavier (27-22) --- 6 pm
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Game #3: Winner-Game #1 vs. No. 1 seed Judson (28-21) --- 10 am
Game #4: Winner-Game #2 vs. No. 2 seed St. Ambrose (25-23) --- 1 pm
Game #5: Loser-Game #2 vs. Loser-Game #3 --- 4 pm
Game #6: Loser-Game #1 vs. Loser-Game #4 --- 7 pm
Friday, May 2, 2025
Game #7: Winner-Game #3 vs. Winner-Game #4 --- 1 pm
Game #8: Winner-Game #5 vs. Winner-Game #6 --- 4 pm
Game #9: Loser-Game #7 vs. Winner-Game #8 --- 7 pm
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Game #10: Winner-Game #7 vs. Winner-Game #9 --- 4 pm (Championship)
Game #11: Winner-Game #10 vs. Loser-Game #10 --- 7 pm (If necessary)
Statement From The CCAC
The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) was informed by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) late Tuesday morning that multiple game forfeitures were being issued by the NAIA due to the use of an ineligible player during conference baseball competition.
As a result of these rulings, the CCAC baseball standings were directly affected, leading to changes in the final conference standings as mandated by the NAIA. These adjustments, in turn, impacted the seeding for the upcoming CCAC Baseball Tournament, scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
While the conference is disappointed in this development, the CCAC remains committed to upholding the integrity of competition and the eligibility standards set forth by our association, the NAIA.