Hard-hitting Fire stay hot at the plate and at the top of the poll
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Continuing to accumulate wins at a prodigious rate, Southeastern (Fla.) stayed atop the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 after snagging all 18 first-place votes.
Faulkner (Ala.) stayed No. 2 for the second-consecutive poll followed by Tennessee Wesleyan, which has fought its way back to the top three on the back of a 10-game win streak. Georgia Gwinnett jumped from No. 7 to No. 4 this week while the ever-consistent Oklahoma City remained at No. 5 with a 30-6 overall record heading into the week.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
- Just two losses are the only blemishes on the record of Southeastern in the month of March. Since dropping an 8-7 decision to No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan on March 6, the Fire went 19-1 heading into April. They will face the lone team that handed them a loss in that time frame on Tuesday in a double-dip against Florida National.
- The Fire lead the nation in nine hitting categories including hits per game (12.10), Home Runs per Game (1.84), batting average (0.369) and slugging percentage (0.622).
- Quietly sitting at No. 2, Faulkner is having another monster season. The Eagles have won eight straight and features an electric roster of speed on the base path with 105 stolen bases, the most in the NAIA in 2019.
- Cumberlands (Ky.) made the jump into the Top 10 this week for the first time this season, while Vanguard made the biggest jump… nine spots from No. 23 to No. 14. The Lions own a 26-10 record and took three of four from then-No. 3 Westmont just over a week ago.
- There are two newcomers to the poll this week in Truett McConnell (Ga.) at No. 20 and The Master’s (Calif.) at No. 23.
- Lewis-Clark State leads all active members with 59 total No. 1 mentions since 2000. Ten other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (34), Faulkner (19), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Georgia Gwinnett (8), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (Tenn.) (6), Tennessee Wesleyan (2) and Southeastern (5).
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
- The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2019 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 3 (April 2)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Southeastern (Fla.) [18] | 34-4 | 498 |
| 2 | 2 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 30-8 | 482 |
| 3 | 6 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 30-6 | 462 |
| 4 | 7 | Georgia Gwinnett | 28-8 | 444 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 30-6 | 427 |
| 6 | 4 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 27-9 | 422 |
| 7 | 11 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 30-5 | 402 |
| 8 | 8 | Middle Georgia State | 26-8 | 379 |
| 9 | 12 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 28-6 | 369 |
| 10 | 10 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 29-10 | 348 |
| 11 | 9 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 31-8 | 330 |
| 12 | 13 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 25-7 | 328 |
| 13 | 15 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 21-5 | 295 |
| 14 | 23 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 26-10 | 283 |
| 15 | 17 | Texas Wesleyan | 30-7 | 270 |
| 16 | 19 | Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | 30-8 | 244 |
| 17 | 18 | Lyon (Ark.) | 27-11 | 242 |
| 18 | 3 | Westmont (Calif.) | 24-9 | 235 |
| 19 | 21 | Warner (Fla.) | 29-13 | 189 |
| 20 | NR | Truett McConnell (Ga.) | 21-9 | 187 |
| 21 | 22 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 27-9 | 157 |
| 22 | 16 | Indiana Tech | 16-10 | 155 |
| 23 | NR | The Master’s (Calif.) | 23-9 | 150 |
| 24 | 14 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 22-11 | 126 |
| 25 | 24 | Webber International (Fla.) | 26-13 | 100 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Taylor (Ind.), Mobile (Ala.)
Others Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 96, Indiana Southeast (Ind.) 94, Tabor (Kan.) 73, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 29, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 26, Benedictine (Kan.) 15, Taylor (Ind.) 15, Bellevue (Neb.) 9, William Penn (Iowa) 7, British Columbia 7, Hope International (Calif.) 4, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 4, Campbellsville (Ky.) 4, Point (Ga.) 4, Madonna (Mich.) 3, Keiser (Fla.) 3.
