March 29, 2011

Contact: Amanda Dahl, NAIA Manager of Sports Information & Media Services, adahl@naia.org

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -Oklahoma City leapfrogged to the top spot in the first regular-season edition of the 2011 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The Stars, who were listed seventh in the preseason announcement on Nov. 16, 2010, tallied 17 first-place votes for 583 points. Second-ranked Lee (Tenn.) and third-ranked Embry-Riddle (Fla.) were each awarded a pair of first-place nods to rack up 568 and 555 points, respectively. Previously unranked Oklahoma Baptist rockets to No. 4 with 505 points and Brewton-Parker (Ga.) jumped to No. 5 with 498 points.

Eleven conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups have at least one team represented in the preseason poll. The Southern States Athletic Conference leads the way with five listed squads in Lee, Brewton-Parker, No. 10 Faulkner (Ala.), No. 15 Southern Poly Tech (Ga.) and No. 21 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.). The Sooner Athletic Conference landed four squads among the Top 25: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Baptist, No. 13 Rogers State (Okla.) and No. 18 Lubbock Christian (Texas).

Lee was the only team to maintain its preseason spot as seven squads improved position, eight dropped and nine garnered their first national ranking of the season. Five teams made a double-digit move, highlighted by Brewton-Parker jumping 19 spots from No. 24 to 5. Right behind the 23-7 Barons is sixth-ranked Fresno Pacific (Calif.). The Sunbirds (19-11) moved up from No. 15, a climb of 11 spots. Faulkner (28-7) moved 10 spots from No. 20 to 10.

Suffering the steepest fall was defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Cumberland (Tenn.), plummeting to No. 17. The Bulldogs’ record stands at 23-11. Lubbock Christian, who was also a preseason top-five program, dropped from fifth to 18th with a mark of 22-8.

Teams that were unranked in the preseason poll that have landed among the Top 25 include: Oklahoma Baptist, No. 12 Northwood (Texas), No. 13 Rogers State, No. 14 Union (Ky.), No. 19 Biola (Calif.), No. 20 Missouri Baptist, No. 21 Auburn Montgomery, No. 23 Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 24 Tabor (Kan.).

At 27-3, top-ranked Oklahoma City’s three losses are the fewest among ranked clubs. The Stars rode a 23-game winning streak from Feb. 12 – March 19 before suffering an 18-12 loss to NCAA Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State on March 22. Since then, the Stars have won four straight, outscoring opponents 61-4.

Fueling Oklahoma Baptist’s ranking was a winning streak of 12 straight from Feb. 22 – March 10 and a current stretch of eight-consecutive victories. The Bison are 26-5 overall and 11-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference action.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups. The next poll will be announced on April 5.

Others receiving votes: Belhaven University (Miss.) 110; Davenport University (Mich.) 89; Judson University (Ill.) 86; Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.) 70; University of Texas at Brownsville 67; Malone University (Ohio) 54; Campbellsville University (Ky.) 50; Shorter University (Ga.) 29; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 12; Point Park University (Pa.) 11; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 9; Oklahoma Wesleyan University 5; Texas Wesleyan University 5; Jamestown College (N.D.) 4; Science and Arts of Oklahoma 4; Vanguard University (Calif.) 3; California State University-San Marcos 3; Edward Waters College (Fla.) 3; Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) 1; Madonna University (Mich.) 1; Martin Methodist College (Tenn.) 1; Menlo College (Calif.) 1; Georgetown College (Ky.) 1; Concordia University (Calif.) 1; Webber International University (Fla.) 1; University of Mobile (Ala.) 1; University of Houston - Victoria (Texas) 1.