April 13, 2010

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – California Baptist is the unanimous No. 1 in the fourth edition of the NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The defending national champions received 24 first-place votes and 684 points on its way to a 12^th straight No. 1 rating. Lee (Tenn.) remained in the second spot in the poll, while Bethel (Ind.) jumps up one position into third. Fourth-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas) and No. 5 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) round out the rest of the top five.

California Baptist (47-1, 17-1 Golden State Athletic Conference) is currently riding an 18-game winning streak since falling to then-ranked No. 11 Concordia (Calif.), 3-2, on March 16 in its only loss of the season. The Lancers have shut out their opponent in 12 of the 18 wins during the streak and have out-scored the competition 136-14.

Twentieth-ranked Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.), No. 24 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and No. 25 Columbia (Mo.) are all new members to the Top 25 poll this week. All three schools received votes the previous week. It is the first time this season that any of the three teams have cracked the Top 25.

Lee (42-3) and Lubbock Christian (40-4) join the Lancers as the only Top 25 teams to rack up over 40 wins so far on the season. Eight teams have surpassed 30 wins on the season.

Thirteen conferences and unaffiliated groupings are represented in the poll. The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all leagues with four ranked teams: Lee, No. 11 Brenau (Ga.), No. 18 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and No. 19 Shorter (Ga.). Four conferences each boast a trio of ranked teams, while the remainder of the poll is represented by nine conferences.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be announced on April 20.