April 26, 2011

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Embry-Riddle (Fla.) claimed the No. 1 ranking in the fifth edition of the 2011 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The Eagles tallied 17 first-place votes for 588 points to become the fourth team to occupy the top spot this season. Oklahoma City slid up to No. 2 with three first-place nods for 569 points and California Baptist moved to No. 3 with 547 points. Former-No. 1 Lee (Tenn.) dropped back to No. 4 with 532 points, while also receiving one-first place vote. No. 5 Cumberland (Tenn.) totaled 526 points to round out the top-five teams.

Thirteen conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups have at least one team represented in the preseason poll, five of which boast multiple Top-25 teams. The Southern States Athletic Conference continues to lead the way with six listed squads in Lee, No. 6 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), No. 13 Faulkner (Ala.), No. 16 Brewton-Parker (Ga.), No. 19 Southern Poly Tech (Ga.) and No. 22 Belhaven (Miss.).

The Sooner Athletic Conference maintained its four squads among the Top 25: Oklahoma City, No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist, No. 10 Lubbock Christian (Texas) and No. 18 Rogers State (Okla.). The Golden State Athletic Conference has a trio of ranked programs, while two other leagues have a pair of listed teams.

Twenty of the previously ranked teams shifted throughout the poll and three programs made their Top-25 debut of the 2011 campaign. Faulkner led the way among the dozen clubs that improved in rank, climbing six spots from No. 19 to 13. Right behind the Eagles with a four-spot jump is No. 14 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho). Sliding down the slope the furthest was No. 20 British Columbia, falling six spots. LSU Shreveport (La.) held its ground among the top 10, checking in at No. 9 despite suffering a four-spot setback.

No. 23 Culver-Stockton (Mo.), No. 24 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) and No. 25 Point Park (Pa.) each garnered their first ranking of the campaign and their first in at least two seasons. In 2009, Trevecca Nazarene (32-19) was listed 18th in the April 17 edition and in 2007, Culver-Stockton (35-13) appeared at No. 10 in the Preseason Poll. Point Park (32-9) last earned a spot among the Top 25 in the 1999 Preseason Poll at No. 13.

The trio of newcomers knocked out previously-ranked No. 16 Union (Tenn.), No. 21 Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 24 Madonna (Mich.), all of which had been ranked at least three times this season.

Embry-Riddle obtained its first top-billing since landing at No. 1 in the April 20, 2005 poll. The Eagles (43-8) push to No. 1 has been fueled by a 14-game winning streak dating back to April 2. During that stretch they wrapped up The Sun Conference action, closing out with a 24-3 record en route to the top-seed in the leagues tournament that is set to get underway on May 3. One regular-season contest remains on Embry-Riddle's schedule, as the Eagles travel to St. Augustine, Fla., to face NCAA Division II Flagler on Tuesday.

Despite suffering consecutive losses for just the second time this season, Lee continues to lead all ranked teams with 44 wins. The Flames were awarded the East Division's top seed for the SSAC Tournament, squaring off against West Division fourth-seeded William Carey (Miss.) on Friday. Embry-Riddle's 43 wins are the second-most among Top-25 clubs, while five additional teams have surpassed 40 wins.

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 May 3.

Others receiving votes: Madonna University (Mich.) 91; Southeastern University (Fla.) 88; Taylor University (Ind.) 84; York College (Neb.) 84; Union University (Tenn.) 80; Campbellsville University (Ky.) 56; Concordia University (Calif.) 33; Tennessee Wesleyan College 23; College of Idaho 14; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 12; Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.) 11; Indiana University Southeast 4; Menlo College (Calif.) 3; Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) 3; Oklahoma Christian University 1; California State University-San Marcos 1; Saint Thomas University (Fla.) 1; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 1; Texas Wesleyan University 1.