KANSAS CITY, Mo. - - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced Friday (May 8) the selections for the 2009 NAIA Baseball National Championship and for the first time in program history, Madonna University saw its name in the selections.

The Crusaders - the 2009 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference regular season champions - earned the third at-large bid in the 46 team pool. MU, which ended the season ranked 16th in the country is in Field Nine in Sioux CIty, Iowa and is the No. 3-seed in the field.

Rounding out the field are No. 1-Seed Bellevue, No. 2-seed Fresno Pacific, No. 4-seed Jamestown and the No. 5-seed Nebraska Wesleyan.

The Crusaders open play against No. 2 Fresno Pacific at 1pm local time on Tuesday. This marks the first time that the two teams have faced off in the history of the two programs.

Madonna has only met up with one other team in the five-team pool, Bellevue and holds a 1-0 lead in the series against the Bruins.

Check back with MadonnaCrusaders.com for a full preview on Monday.