Embry-Riddle Holds at No. 1 in Sixth Edition of 2011 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
May 3, 2011
Contact: Amanda Dahl, NAIA Manager of Sports Information & Media Services, adahl@naia.org
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Embry-Riddle (Fla.) held its spot at No. 1 in the sixth edition of the 2011 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the NAIA announced Tuesday. The Eagles share first-place votes with four teams, but tallied 15 nods for 586 points. Oklahoma City and California Baptist retained their No. 2 and 3 spots with 572 and 552 points, respectively. The Stars were awarded four first-place votes, while the Lancers earned one. Cumberland (Tenn.) slid up to fourth and also picked up one first-place nod for 539 points. No. 5 Oklahoma Baptist rounds out the top-five clubs with 506 points.
The final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll will be announced by 3 p.m. CDT on May 8. The 46 National Championship qualifiers and nine Opening Round hosts will officially be announced by 4 p.m., followed by the bracket by 6 p.m.
Thirteen conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups have at least one team represented in the poll, five of which boast multiple Top-25 teams. The Southern States Athletic Conference continues to lead the way with six listed squads in No. 6 Lee, No. 10 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), No. 11 Faulkner (Ala.), No. 16 Brewton-Parker (Ga.), No. 18 Southern Poly Tech (Ga.) and No. 21 Belhaven (Miss.).
The Sooner Athletic Conference maintained its four squads among the Top 25: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Baptist, No. 9 Lubbock Christian (Texas) and No. 19 Rogers State (Okla.). The Golden State Athletic Conference has a trio of ranked programs, while two other leagues have a pair of listed teams.
Positive improvements were felt by 11 clubs, all of which inched up one or two spots. A four-spot stumble and a three-spot setback were handed to No. 10 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and No. 14 Missouri Baptist, respectively. Seven squads held steady with their previous ranking.
Madonna (Mich.) reappears in the poll at No. 25 after a one-week absence. The Crusaders (30-12) garner their fourth national ranking of the season and replace previously-ranked No. 21 Tabor (Kan.).
Twenty-two of the 23 conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournaments will play out through Saturday, with four of the top-five clubs earning the top-seed in their respective tournament.
The top-ranked Eagles (43-9) will look to recover after from their regular-season ending loss to NCAA Division II Flagler (Fla.), 4-0, on April 26. Embry-Riddle opens The Sun Conference Tournament play against sixth-seeded South Carolina - Beaufort (27-18) on Tuesday. No. 2 California Baptist (41-9) will also take to the field on Tuesday, hosting the GSAC Tournament and meeting sixth-seeded Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (45-22).
Due to weather, the TranSouth Athletic Conference Tournament has been pushed back to start on Wednesday, featuring fourth-ranked Cumberland (42-12) against sixth-seeded Bethel (Tenn.) (24-20). The SAC will also throw out its first pitch on Wednesday, with Oklahoma City (41-9) meeting fifth-seeded Oklahoma Christian (24-18) and second-seeded Oklahoma Baptist (39-11) taking on sixth-seeded Wayland Baptist (Texas) (26-28).
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups.
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2011 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) (15) | 43-9 | 586 |
| 2 | 2 | Oklahoma City University (4) | 41-9 | 572 |
| 3 | 3 | California Baptist University (1) | 41-12 | 552 |
| 4 | 5 | Cumberland University (Tenn.) (1) | 42-12 | 539 |
| 5 | 7 | Oklahoma Baptist University | 39-11 | 506 |
| 6 | 4 | Lee University (Tenn.) | 44-12 | 489 |
| 7 | 8 | Union College (Ky.) | 42-9 | 464 |
| 8 | 9 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 40-13 | 461 |
| 9 | 10 | Lubbock Christian University (Texas) | 41-11 | 433 |
| 10 | 6 | Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) | 40-17 | 431 |
| 11 | 13 | Faulkner University (Ala.) | 45-11 | 378 |
| 12 | 14 | Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) | 34-13 | 376 |
| 13 | 12 | Biola University (Calif.) | 33-18 | 373 |
| 14 | 11 | Missouri Baptist University | 36-10 | 359 |
| 15 | 15 | Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) | 30-17 | 314 |
| 16 | 16 | Brewton-Parker College (Ga.) | 33-15 | 310 |
| 17 | 17 | Northwood University (Texas) | 36-15 | 265 |
| 18 | 19 | Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.) | 40-14 | 258 |
| 19 | 18 | Rogers State University (Okla.) | 42-12 | 238 |
| 20 | 20 | University of British Columbia | 27-14 | 215 |
| 21 | 22 | Belhaven University (Miss.) | 41-15 | 209 |
| 22 | 24 | Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.) | 34-20 | 164 |
| 23 | 25 | Point Park University (Pa.) | 36-11 | 130 |
| 24 | 23 | Culver-Stockton College (Mo.) | 36-14 | 119 |
| 25 | RV | Madonna University (Mich.) | 30-12 | 102 |
Others receiving votes: York College (Neb.) 100; Taylor University (Ind.) 84; Southeastern University (Fla.) 79; Campbellsville University (Ky.) 43; Tennessee Wesleyan College 31; Union University (Tenn.) 30; Kansas Wesleyan University 26; Concordia University (Calif.) 23; Robert Morris University (Ill.) 21; Indiana University Southeast 9; College of Idaho 8; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 7; Tabor College (Kan.) 7; Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.) 6; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 5; Menlo College (Calif.) 5; California State University-San Marcos 4; Shorter University (Ga.) 3; Iowa Wesleyan College 3; Shawnee State University (Ohio) 1; Saint Thomas University (Fla.) 1; William Woods University (Mo.) 1; Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) 1; Judson University (Ill.) 1; Bellevue University (Neb.) 1; Oklahoma Christian University 1.
