Though the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association does not officially sponsor baseball as a conference sport, Virginia State University will host the 2026 CIAA Baseball Series Championship.
The invitational, four-team event from May 5-8 features the host Trojans alongside Bluefield State University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, and Claflin University.
Reviving baseball in CIAA
Designed to foster competition among CIAA-member institutions and affiliates with baseball programs, the series continues the conference’s tradition of collaboration and athletic camaraderie beyond officially sanctioned sports.
Participation in the championship will be contingent upon postseason qualification. Any team advancing to its own conference tournament will not compete in the event.
Where ex-CIAA teams play
Claflin University competes in the Peach Belt Conference, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania belongs to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, Bluefield State competes as an independent institution, and Virginia State represents the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
The CIAA, which last sponsored baseball in 2017, has been without the sport for eight years, leaving a void for student-athletes and supporters of Historically Black Colleges and Universities who have long called for its return.
The conference’s Board of Directors, meeting last year in Charlotte, North Carolina, approved a plan to support the sport’s growth and stability as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the CIAA’s future.
The absence of baseball was primarily due to financial constraints and shifting institutional priorities, which forced some programs to compete as independents or join other conferences.\
While some member schools—such as Bowie State, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, Johnson C. Smith, Livingstone College, Saint Augustine’s, Shaw, Virginia Union, and Winston-Salem State—currently do not sponsor baseball, conference officials are optimistic that renewed interest and institutional support will help expand participation in the coming years.
