Helped by a 10-game win streak and a division title, the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team rose two more spots in this week’s NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Warriors received 376 points and now stand at No. 12.
Last week LCSC, now 34-13 overall, swept a four-game series with the College of Idaho to improve its conference record to 23-8. The wins gave the Warriors just enough to narrowly clinch the NAIA West North Division title by jumping a half-game ahead of the University of British Columbia.
The Warriors have now risen six spots over the past two polls.
LCSC’s bats have played a big role in the team’s success as of late as they have nearly outscored their opponents by 100 runs in the last ten games. With 130 runs scored and 31 runs surrendered, the Warriors have averaged 13 runs a game and cruised to multiple lopsided victories.
The team will look to continue its scoring pace when they host the Inland Cellular Tournament on the weekend. The three-day tournament will bring Pacific Lutheran, George Fox, and Linfield to town. The event will kick off on Friday at 3 p.m. with Pacific Lutheran against George Fox, and then the Warriors will play Linfield at 6 p.m. Friday is billed as Scholarship Night and season passes will not be accepted.
The tournament will continue with two games on Saturday, and two more on Sunday. As a special promotion, which will last all tournament long, youth baseball players who come to the games wearing their uniform will receive free admission.
Topping Tuesday’s poll was Embry-Riddle which has a 43-9 record and received 15-of-21 first-place votes.
British Columbia was ranked No. 20 in the poll with an overall record of 27-14 and a conference mark of 23-9. The College of Idaho, which sits at 29-19 and 19-13, was not listed in the top 25, but did receive votes.
The final regular-season poll will be announced on Sunday, and will be followed directly by an announcement of the 46 National Championship qualifiers and nine Opening Round hosts. The opening round bracket will also be announced on Sunday.
|
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.
