2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 5
By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Georgia Gwinnett garners the No. 1 ranking for a third-straight week in the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The sixth regular-season edition will be released April 19.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)
• Fueled by wins in 17 of its last 18 games, Georgia Gwinnett claimed all 18 first-place votes and 498 points en route to the program’s fourth top billing in school history. The Grizzlies were the unanimous No. 1 for a second-straight week.
• Georgia Gwinnett brings an NAIA-best 42-2 record into the week with its only losses coming against Madonna (Mich.), 8-5, on March 12 and at then-No. 8 Tennessee Wesleyan, 13-8, on April 5.
• The Grizzlies return to the field Tuesday against No. 4 Faulkner (Ala.), before traveling home to play No. 8 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) on Wednesday. Georgia Gwinnett beat the Eagles, 3-1, on March 22 in a top five matchup earlier this season.
• Three teams have held the No. 1 ranking this season: Faulkner, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Georgia Gwinnett.
• The remainder of the top five held strong for a second-straight week with No. 2 Lewis-Clark State (482 points), No. 3 Bellevue (Neb.) (464 points), Faulkner (449 points) and No. 5 USC Beaufort (S.C.) (422 points) making up the group.
• Among the top five, defending national champion Lewis-Clark State rides the most impressive winning streak into the week. The Warriors have won nine-straight, including a four-game series sweep of the College of Idaho over the weekend.
• Lewis-Clark State owns an NAIA record 56 all-time top mentions and the association’s longest active streak in the Top 25 at 151-consecutive polls.
• No. 14 Middle Georgia State and No. 20 Sterling (Kan.) each jumped a poll-high three spots this edition. The Knights vault is due in large part to winning nine of their last 11 games, including taking two-of-three against a top 10 Auburn Montgomery team on March 25 – 26. Sterling has won seven games in-a-row.
• No team fell more than two places in the poll.
• No. 22 William Carey (Miss.) and No. 23 Science & Arts (Okla.) are this edition’s newcomers. Both clubs were ranked earlier this season.
• Thirty-six teams have been ranked in 2016.
• The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all leagues with four teams represented – Faulkner, No. 8 Auburn Montgomery, Middle Georgia State and William Carey. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference – No. 12 Tabor (Kan.), No. 18 York (Neb.) and Sterling – is second with three teams.
• Outside of Lewis-Clark State, 10 other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (32), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Faulkner (10), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (6), Georgia Gwinnett (4) and Tennessee Wesleyan (2).
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 ratings) 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 appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 5 (April 12)
| RANK |
PRVS^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Georgia Gwinnett (18) |
42-2 |
498 |
| 2 |
2 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
34-5 |
482 |
| 3 |
3 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
31-6 |
464 |
| 4 |
4 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
34-10 |
449 |
| 5 |
5 |
USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
33-6 |
422 |
| 6 |
8 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
29-9 |
419 |
| 7 |
7 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
31-7 |
418 |
| 8 |
6 |
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
31-11 |
381 |
| 9 |
10 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
37-3 |
365 |
| 10 |
9 |
Missouri Baptist |
31-8 |
349 |
| 11 |
13 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
30-9-1 |
331 |
| 12 |
11 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
30-13 |
321 |
| 13 |
12 |
Oklahoma City |
31-12 |
311 |
| 14 |
17 |
Middle Georgia State |
33-11 |
270 |
| 15 |
16 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
29-8 |
266 |
| 16 |
14 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
30-11 |
247 |
| 17 |
15 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
30-11 |
236 |
| 18 |
18 |
York (Neb.) |
29-11 |
229 |
| 19 |
21 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
25-11 |
226 |
| 20 |
23 |
Sterling (Kan.) |
32-11 |
192 |
| 21 |
20 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
23-8 |
180 |
| 22 |
RV |
William Carey (Miss.) |
29-13 |
160 |
| 23 |
RV |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
31-10 |
121 |
| 24 |
25 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
25-14 |
112 |
| 25 |
24 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
28-16 |
89 |
Dropped from Top 25: Keiser (Fla.) (No. 19), Wayland Baptist (Texas) (No. 22)
Others receiving votes: Indiana Tech 86; IU Southeast (Ind.) 66; Keiser (Fla.) 58; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 49; LSU Shreveport (La.) 40; Oklahoma Wesleyan 24; Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 19; Midland (Neb.) 16; St. Catharine (Ky.) 11; Southeastern (Fla.) 9; The Master’s (Calif.) 7; Mobile (Ala.) 6.
^From the 2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 4 (April 5)