Between them, they've been to the national championship tournament every year since 2018. But never in the same year.
 
Until now.
 
For the first time ever, both the Division 1 and Division 2 teams from Grand Canyon University Club Baseball will head to Alton, Illinois in the next two weeks to take part in both the D1 and D2 versions of the NCBA World Series. Both punched their tickets to head to the town just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri for the prestigious events by both winning their respective regional tournaments in thrilling, come-from-behind fashion.
 
"We're excited to get there because it's something you long for, and not everyone gets a chance to ever be a part of it," said Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol. "Some of these guys have been with us for a few years and never got out of the region tournament, so it's especially satisfying to see this happen for them. We're pumped to hopefully see both of our teams play at a high level on a national stage."
 
For the Division 2 team, this has become familiar territory, since the Lopes earned their third consecutive Pacific Region crown by going the long way, winning their final three games of the double-elimination tournament in Henderson, Nevada, two weeks ago, including two straight wins over California Miramar University-Los Angeles in the championship round to hoist the trophy. The Lopes - seeded 6^th in the eight-team World Series - just arrived today in the 'Land of Lincoln',  and are set to take on 3^rd-seeded Milwaukee School of Engineering on 11AM Arizona time Friday, May 17. The No. 3 Raiders are in their first year on the NCBA Division II level after winning the 2023 D3 World Series, and are fresh off beating Wisconsin-La Crosse in the Northern Plains D2 Regional Championship 11 days ago. The Lopes are seeking their 2^nd national championship in the last three years, and need four straight wins to do just that. The national champion will be crowned on Tuesday, May 21.
 
The rest of the NCBA D2 World Series bracket is below:
 

 
































Meanwhile, the D1 Lopes are resting, since they just returned from San Luis Obispo, California, four days ago. Like their D2 counterparts, the D1 squad took the harder route to win the Southern Pacific Region Tournament title, losing their second game of the double-elimination tournament Saturday morning, then winning three in a row – including coming from at least four runs down in both of the championship round games Sunday – to claim their first region title since 2019. The Lopes – seeded 7^th in the eight-team field for next week – are making their third trip to the D1 World Series. They finished 3^rd in 2018, then reached the championship game the next year, but are still in search of their first national title. For the Lopes to do that, they'll need to first defeat the 2nd-seeded team in the tournament, the Cyclones of Iowa State University, who breezed through the Mid America Region Tournament last weekend, going 3-0 while outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 28-6. The D1 World Series will conclude with the championship game on Thursday, May 30.
 
The full NCBA D1 World Series bracket is below: