After being ranked No. 5 last week, the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team came in at No. 7 in the final NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 poll, which was released on Friday. Also, the 46 teams to qualify for the 2009 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round and pairings were announced on Friday.
Lewis-Clark State, which receives an automatic berth to the Avista-NAIA World Series as host, was passed in the final poll by Southern Polytechnic State and Embry-Riddle which were ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
LCSC (36-13) earned 499 points in the poll, while Embry-Riddle (41-12) garnered 549, and Southern Polytechnic State had 551. Topping the poll for the seventh consecutive week was Lubbuck Christian. The Chaparrals hold a 44-6 record and won the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title.
The Warriors went 3-2 against strong NCAA opponents on the road last week. LCSC bested the University of Washington 5-2, and then split a four-game series with Dixie State.
On Sunday, LCSC starts its final series of the regular season, a three-game set with St. Martin’s University. Sunday’s first pitch is at 6 p.m. at Harris Field, Monday’s game—the Roger Adams Memorial Game—will also be at 6 p.m., and the finale on Tuesday is scheduled for noon.
The national championship opening round will be played May 12-15 at nine different sites. Each site will feature a five-team double elimination tournament. The winners of those nine opening round tournaments, in addition to Lewis-Clark State, will advance to the 53rd Annual Avista-NAIA World Series from May 22-29 in Lewiston, Idaho.
The 46-team field is comprised of 14 at-larges and 32 automatic qualifiers.
Below is the final poll, list of qualifiers, and the opening round pairings.
2009 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – May 8
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK
|
SCHOOL
|
1ST PLACE VOTES
|
WON*
|
LOST*
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Lubbock Christian University (Texas)
|
22
|
44
|
6
|
653
|
|
2
|
2
|
Oklahoma City University
|
|
48
|
7
|
631
|
|
3
|
3
|
Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
|
1
|
37
|
11
|
605
|
|
4
|
4
|
Berry College (Ga.)
|
|
42
|
14
|
586
|
|
5
|
6
|
Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.)
|
|
48
|
8
|
551
|
|
6
|
7
|
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
|
|
41
|
12
|
549
|
|
7
|
5
|
Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)
|
|
36
|
13
|
499
|
|
8
|
T8
|
Campbellsville University (Ky.)
|
|
35
|
9
|
481
|
|
9
|
10
|
Tennessee Wesleyan College
|
|
43
|
13
|
471
|
|
10
|
T8
|
Lee University (Tenn.)
|
|
47
|
12
|
451
|
|
11
|
T11
|
Bellevue University (Neb.)
|
|
39
|
10
|
450
|
|
12
|
13
|
University of British Columbia
|
|
37
|
11
|
428
|
|
13
|
T11
|
Fresno Pacific University (Calif.)
|
|
33
|
18
|
400
|
|
14
|
14
|
Union College (Ky.)
|
|
43
|
10
|
376
|
|
15
|
20
|
Lindenwood University (Mo.)
|
|
43
|
10
|
354
|
|
16
|
16
|
Madonna University (Mich.)
|
|
38
|
10
|
308
|
|
17
|
19
|
Malone University (Ohio)
|
|
44
|
12
|
293
|
|
18
|
23
|
Wayland Baptist University (Texas)
|
|
40
|
13
|
280
|
|
19
|
22
|
Louisiana State University-Shreveport
|
|
41
|
14
|
256
|
|
20
|
RV
|
Biola University (Calif.)
|
|
34
|
22
|
181
|
|
21
|
18
|
William Carey University (Miss.)
|
|
33
|
20
|
174
|
|
T22
|
17
|
Southern Nazarene University (Okla.)
|
|
37
|
13
|
158
|
|
T22
|
RV
|
Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.)
|
|
38
|
21
|
158
|
|
24
|
25
|
Saint Xavier University (Ill.)
|
|
39
|
13
|
142
|
|
25
|
RV
|
Kansas Wesleyan University
|
|
38
|
15
|
138
|
Others receiving votes:
Warner (Fla.) 123; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 115; Northwood (Tex.) 74; Cumberland (Tenn.) 67; Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 61; William Jewell (Mo.) 41; McKendree (Ill.) 38; Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) 35; The Masters (Calif.) 31; Houston-Victoria (Tex.) 27; Georgetown (Ky.) 25; Belhaven (Miss.) 22; Park (Mo.) 21; William Penn (Iowa) 18; Dickinson State (N.D.) 18; Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) 18; Science and Arts (Okla.) 11; Rio Grande (Ohio) 8; Texas Wesleyan 5; Taylor (Ind.) 3; William Woods (Mo.) 1; Lyon (Ark.) 1; Indiana Tech 1; Brescia (Ky.) 1; Jamestown (N.D.) 1; Oklahoma Baptist 1; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 1; Union (Tenn.) 1
National Championship Opening Round - Team Qualifiers (Listed Alphabetically)
|
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.)
|
At-Large #14
|
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
|
At-Large #13
|
|
Belhaven (Miss.)
|
Gulf Coast Athletic Champion
|
|
Bellevue (Neb.)
|
Midlands Collegiate Athletic Champion
|
|
Berry (Ga.)
|
Southern State Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
|
Biola (Calif.)
|
At-Large #6
|
|
Brescia (Ky.)
|
Unaffiliated #2 (Kentucky Intercollegiate/Sunrise) Champion
|
|
British Columbia
|
Unaffiliated #1 (California Pacific/Cascade/Independent) Champion
|
|
Campbellsville (Ky.)
|
Mid-South Champion
|
|
Cumberland (Tenn.)
|
At-Large #12
|
|
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D)
|
Great Plains Athletic Champion
|
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
|
The Sun Champion
|
|
Fresno Pacific (Calif.)
|
At-Large #2
|
|
Houston-Victoria (Tex.)
|
Association of Independent Institutions Champion
|
|
Indiana Tech
|
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Champion
|
|
Jamestown (N.D.)
|
Dakota Athletic Champion
|
|
Kansas Wesleyan
|
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Champion
|
|
Lee (Tenn.)
|
At-Large #1
|
|
Lewis-Clark State
|
Host berth
|
|
Lindenwood (Mo.)
|
Heart of America Athletic Champion
|
|
LSU-Shreveport (La.)
|
At-Large #5
|
|
Lubbock Christian (Tex.)
|
Sooner Athletic Champion
|
|
Madonna (Mich.)
|
At-Large #3
|
|
Malone (Ohio)
|
American Mideast Champion
|
|
McKendree (Ill.)
|
American Midwest Champion
|
|
Nebraska Wesleyan
|
Great Plains Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
|
Northwood (Tex.)
|
Red River Athletic Champion
|
|
Oklahoma City
|
Sooner Athletic Runner-Up
|
|
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)
|
Golden State Athletic Champion
|
|
Purdue-North Central (Ind.)
|
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Runner-Up
|
|
Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.)
|
At-Large #9
|
|
Southern Nazarene (Okla.)
|
At-Large #8
|
|
Southern Polytechnic State (Ga.)
|
Southern States Athletic Champion
|
|
Spring Arbor (Mich.)
|
At-Large #11
|
|
St. Xavier (Ill.)
|
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
|
Taylor (Ind.)
|
Mid-Central College Champion
|
|
Tennessee Wesleyan
|
Appalachian Athletic Champion
|
|
Texas Wesleyan
|
Red River Athletic Runner-Up
|
|
The Masters (Calif.)
|
Golden State Athletic Runner-Up
|
|
Union (Ky.)
|
Appalachian Athletic Runner-Up
|
|
Union (Tenn.)
|
TranSouth Athletic Champion
|
|
Warner (Fla.)
|
At-Large #10
|
|
Wayland Baptist (Tex.)
|
At-Large #4
|
|
William Carey (Miss.)
|
At-Large #7
|
|
William Jewell (Mo.)
|
Heart of America Athletic Runner-Up
|
|
William Penn (Iowa)
|
Midwest Collegiate Champion
|
|
Opening Round ID
|
Opening Round Host
|
Schools Involved
|
|
Field #1
|
Lubbock Christian (Texas)
|
No. 1 Lubbock Christian (Tex.)
No. 2. Wayland Baptist (Tex.)
No. 3 Northwood (Tex.)
No. 4 William Jewell (Mo.)
No. 5 Houston-Victoria (Tex.)
|
|
Field #2
|
Oklahoma City
|
No. 1 Oklahoma City
No. 2 LSU-Shreveport (La.)
No. 3 Southern Nazarene (Okla.)
No. 4 McKendree (Ill.)
No. 5 Texas Wesleyan
|
|
Field #3
|
Southern States Athletic Conference / Mount Berry, Ga.
|
No. 1 Berry (Ga.)
No. 2 Malone (Ohio)
No. 3 St. Xavier (Ill.)
No. 4 The Masters (Calif.)
No. 5 Taylor (Ind.)
|
|
Field #4
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
|
No. 1 Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
No. 2 Union (Ky.)
No. 3 Warner (Fla.)
No. 4 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.)
No. 5 Union (Tenn.)
|
|
Field #5
|
Lee (Tenn.)
|
No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan
No. 2 Lee (Tenn.)
No. 3 Spring Arbor (Mich.)
No. 4 Belhaven (Miss.)
No. 5 Indiana Tech
|
|
Field #6
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
|
No. 1 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)
No. 2 British Columbia
No. 3 Biola (Calif.)
No. 4 Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
No. 5 Purdue-North Central (Ind.)
|
|
Field #7
|
William Carey (Miss.)
|
No. 1 Southern Polytechnic State (Ga.)
No. 2 William Carey (Miss.)
No. 3 Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.)
No. 4 Cumberland (Tenn.)
No. 5 Brescia (Ky.)
|
|
Field #8
|
Lindenwood (Mo.)
|
No. 1 Campbellsville (Ky.)
No. 2 Lindenwood (Mo.)
No. 3 Kansas Wesleyan
No. 4 William Penn (Iowa)
No. 5 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
|
|
Field #9
|
Sioux City, Iowa / Great Plains Athletic Conference
|
No. 1 Bellevue (Neb.)
No. 2 Fresno Pacific (Calif.)
No. 3 Madonna (Mich.)
No. 4 Jamestown (N.D.)
No. 5 Nebraska Wesleyan
|
