KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With a 23-1 record to begin the 2020 campaign, Southeastern (Fla.) slid into the driver’s seat of the first baseball Top 25 of the regular season. Science & Arts (Okla.) jumped one spot from the preseason edition up to No. 2, while Georgia Gwinnett, St. Thomas (Fla.) and Tennessee Wesleyan rounded-out the top five.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)

• Southeastern garnered 16 of the 18 first-place votes.
• After dropping its second game of the season to No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett, the Fire have been on a tear and have won 22-consecutive games from that point. Southeastern leads the nation in five offensive categories including hits per game (12.9), batting average (.392), and slugging percentage (.738).
• Science & Arts grabbed two first-place votes this week as it has established itself as having one of the elite pitching staffs in the nation. The Drovers are currently holding batters to a .168 batting average and have a 1.95 earned run average as a team, both of which lead the nation.
• Georgia Gwinnett is up two spots from the preseason edition to No. 3 this week. The Grizzlies’ only two losses are to No. 1 Southeastern in the first series of the season. Since their loss to the Fire on January 31, they have rattled-off 21-consecutive wins.
• St. Thomas and Tennessee Wesleyan rounded-out the top five this week.
• Two teams enjoyed a 10-spot jump, the largest of the ratings period. Central Methodist (Mo.) went from No. 20 to No. 10 while IU Southeast (Ind.) went from No. 22 to No. 12.
• Six newcomers joined the fray this week. Vanguard (Calif.), Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) all are new after having not received votes in the preseason edition.
• Lewis-Clark State leads all active members with 59 total No. 1 mentions since 2000. Ten other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (34), Faulkner (19), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Georgia Gwinnett (8), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (Tenn.) (6), Tennessee Wesleyan (4) and Southeastern (8).

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.

2020 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 1 (March 11, 2020)

Dropped from the Top 25: Bellevue (Neb.), Oklahoma Wesleyan, William Jessup (Calif.), Webber International (Fla.), Texas Wesleyan, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Campbellsville (Ky.) 

Others Receiving Votes: Wayland Baptist (Texas) 78, Texas Wesleyan 72, Columbia (Mo.)57, Madonna (Mich.) 57, Campbellsville (Ky.) 55, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 45, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 34, Jamestown (N.D.) 31, Taylor (Ind.) 16, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 14, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 13, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 8, Central Baptist (Ark.) 5, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 3, Clarke (Iowa) 3.