British Columbia (RV) is the NAIA West's lone representative in the most recent poll. (Photo Credit: Wilson Wong)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After a successful start to the 2019 season, Southeastern (Fla.) is back in at No. 1 in the first regular season of the Top 25. The Fire garnered 14 of the 17 first-place votes this week after beginning the season hot. Representatives of the NAIA West, which has a scheduling arrangement distributed by the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), have been labeled in bold.
Tennessee Wesleyan and Westmont (Calif.) both made big jumps into the top five, the largest was that of the Warriors. Westmont went from No. 25 in the preseason edition up to No. 5 after a 15-2 start to the year. Faulkner and Georgia Gwinnett both stayed in the top five, but flipped positions as the Eagles wrapped-up a three-game sweep of William Carey (Miss.) and the Grizzlies did the same to St. Xavier (Ill.) over the weekend.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
- After going 2-1 against Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Ga., earlier this season the Fire have not lost and now boast a 15-2 record.
- Southeastern leads the nation in both runs scored (193) and runs scored per game (11.53).
- After jumping from No. 17 in 2018 to No. 12 in the preseason edition, Tennessee Wesleyan made another big jump into the No. 2 slot with major non-conference victories against No. 4 Georgia Gwinnett and Campbellsville (Ky.).
- Westmont, who snagged the No. 25 spot in the preseason edition, made the biggest jump from No. 25 to No. 5 in the first regular season poll of the year. The Warriors split a four-game series with conference opponent William Jessup (Calif.) two weeks ago and grabbed a 7-1 win over Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at home on February 14, 2019.
- Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) is making its first appearance in the NAIA Baseball Top 25 poll in its history at No. 23.
- There are seven newcomers to the poll this week: Vanguard (Calif.), Mobile (Ala.), Lyon (Ark.), Texas Wesleyan, Taylor (Ind.), Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) and Georgetown (Ky.).
- 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 (3).
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 1 (March 5)
| RANK |
WEEK |
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] |
RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Southeastern (Fla.) [14] |
15-2 |
465 |
| 2 |
12 |
Tennessee Wesleyan [3] |
15-2 |
448 |
| 3 |
4 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
15-4 |
428 |
| 4 |
3 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
14-4 |
415 |
| 5 |
25 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
15-2 |
396 |
| 6 |
2 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
13-4 |
383 |
| 7 |
8 |
Oklahoma City |
17-2 |
380 |
| 8 |
17 |
Middle Georgia State |
14-3 |
376 |
| 9 |
11 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
18-1 |
339 |
| 10 |
6 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
14-5 |
334 |
| 11 |
19 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
15-2 |
326 |
| 12 |
25 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
19-4 |
299 |
| 13 |
9 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
12-3 |
283 |
| 14 |
15 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
14-4 |
259 |
| 15 |
NR |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
15-2 |
232 |
| 16 |
21 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
12-3 |
214 |
| 17 |
24 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
14-6 |
200 |
| 18 |
NR |
Mobile (Ala.) |
11-4 |
193 |
| 19 |
22 |
Indiana Tech |
8-4 |
192 |
| 20 |
NR |
Lyon (Ark.) |
16-4 |
187 |
| 21 |
NR |
Texas Wesleyan |
19-3 |
169 |
| 22 |
NR |
Taylor (Ind.) |
16-4 |
154 |
| 23 |
NR |
Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) |
13-5 |
128 |
| 24 |
13 |
William Jessup (Calif.) |
9-4 |
108 |
| 25 |
NR |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
14-6 |
105 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Antelope Valley (Calif.), University of Northwestern Ohio, Point Park (Pa.), Reinhardt (Ga.), Bellevue (Neb.), Webber International (Fla.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Campbellsville, (Ky.).
Others Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 104, Tabor (Kan.) 86, Point (Ga.) 79, Warner (Fla.) 36, Webber International (Fla.) 31, LSU Alexandria (La.) 24, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 21, Indiana Southeast (Ind.) 11, British Columbia 11, Missouri Baptist 10, Concordia (Mich.) 9, Talladega (Ala.) 3, Hope International (Calif.) 3.
Follow the Cascade Conference
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube