2014 NAIA Softball Coaches? Top 25 Poll ? No. 3
Apr 01, 2014
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Calif.) retains the No. 1 position for the 13th-straight week in the third edition of the 2014 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. For the first time this year, the Eagles are the consensus No. 1 pick with all 20 first-place votes and 600 total points.
Concordia has won its last seven games -- prior to that, the Eagles had win streaks of 17 and 11 games. The Eagles take their 36-4 record into a twinbill against Vanguard (Calif.) today. Concordia ranks in the top 10 in the NAIA in numerous categories, including No. 2 in home runs per game (1.3), No. 5 in RBIs per game (7.1) and No. 7 in runs scored per game (7.9).
No. 2 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) claims its highest ranking of the season with 536 points. The Warhawks sport a 19-3 overall record and are riding a current 10-game win streak.
Also moving up one spot like Auburn Montgomery is No. 3 LSU Alexandria (La.). The Generals stand 26-3 overall and posted 521 points. LSU Alexandria has recorded recent victories over then-No. 2 Spring Hill (Ala.) on March 15 and a pair of wins over NCAA Division I Grambling (La.) on March. 25.
No. 4 Saint Xavier (Ill.) also improves one position with 513 total points. The Cougars get into the bulk of their schedule with six games scheduled for this week.
No. 5 St. Gregory's improves eight spots this week with 504 points. The Cavaliers are in the top five for the first time in almost five years -- they held a No. 5 ranking on April 21, 2009. They rattled off a 20-game win streak recently before tripping up on March 29 against Benedictine (Kan.). The eight-spot jump is the best within the poll this week.
No. 8 Oklahoma City suffers the largest drop within the poll, down six positions from last week. It is the lowest ranking since a No. 9 spot on April 2, 2013.
No. 25 Central Baptist (Ark.) rejoins the list for the first time in 2014. With a 23-5 overall record, the Mustangs have won seven-straight contests. Central Baptist is no stranger to the poll as it had held a ranking for 23-straight weeks that was ended on April 9, 2013 (No. 24).
Friends (Kan.) (No. 24) fell out this week, after losing three of its last four games against unranked opponents.
The Southern States Athletic Conference boasts the most Top 25 mentions with five teams: Auburn Montgomery, No. 7 Spring Hill (Ala.), No. 10 William Carey (Miss.), No. 14 Belhaven (Miss.) and No. 21 Brenau (Ga.).
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences /independent /unaffiliated groupings. The fourth regular-season Top 25 poll will be announced on April8.
For the complete calendar of 2014 Top 25 Polls, click here.
Notes: (all information dating back to 2000) The 13-straight No. 1 rankings for Concordia (Calif.) is the longest stretch for any program since former member California Baptist rattled through 24-consecutive polls from 2009 - 11… With 19 all-time No. 1 positions, Concordia now holds the third-most total trailing Oklahoma City by one for second-most... Overall, there have been 31 different teams to be ranked at least once this year (through four overall polls) and 19 of those programs have been ranked in every poll… Concordia has now held the No. 1 position in 17 of the last 19 polls dating back to the 2012 season…No. 2 Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 95-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which dates back to start of 2004 season; No. 10 William Carey (Miss.) is second with 58-consecutive mentions and Concordia is right behind at 49-straight polls… Since 2000, there have been 11 teams to be on top of the polls as former member California Baptist leads the way with 46 all-time No. 1 appearances, followed by Oklahoma City with 20, Concordia with 19, former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18, Thomas (Ga.) with 13, Mobile (Ala.) with five, former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) with four, Cal State San Marcos with two and Oklahoma Baptist with two -- Oregon Tech and former member Shorter (Ga.) each have one.
2014 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (April 1)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Calif.) retains the No. 1 position for the 13th-straight week in the third edition of the 2014 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. For the first time this year, the Eagles are the consensus No. 1 pick with all 20 first-place votes and 600 total points.
Concordia has won its last seven games -- prior to that, the Eagles had win streaks of 17 and 11 games. The Eagles take their 36-4 record into a twinbill against Vanguard (Calif.) today. Concordia ranks in the top 10 in the NAIA in numerous categories, including No. 2 in home runs per game (1.3), No. 5 in RBIs per game (7.1) and No. 7 in runs scored per game (7.9).
No. 2 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) claims its highest ranking of the season with 536 points. The Warhawks sport a 19-3 overall record and are riding a current 10-game win streak.
Also moving up one spot like Auburn Montgomery is No. 3 LSU Alexandria (La.). The Generals stand 26-3 overall and posted 521 points. LSU Alexandria has recorded recent victories over then-No. 2 Spring Hill (Ala.) on March 15 and a pair of wins over NCAA Division I Grambling (La.) on March. 25.
No. 4 Saint Xavier (Ill.) also improves one position with 513 total points. The Cougars get into the bulk of their schedule with six games scheduled for this week.
No. 5 St. Gregory's improves eight spots this week with 504 points. The Cavaliers are in the top five for the first time in almost five years -- they held a No. 5 ranking on April 21, 2009. They rattled off a 20-game win streak recently before tripping up on March 29 against Benedictine (Kan.). The eight-spot jump is the best within the poll this week.
No. 8 Oklahoma City suffers the largest drop within the poll, down six positions from last week. It is the lowest ranking since a No. 9 spot on April 2, 2013.
No. 25 Central Baptist (Ark.) rejoins the list for the first time in 2014. With a 23-5 overall record, the Mustangs have won seven-straight contests. Central Baptist is no stranger to the poll as it had held a ranking for 23-straight weeks that was ended on April 9, 2013 (No. 24).
Friends (Kan.) (No. 24) fell out this week, after losing three of its last four games against unranked opponents.
The Southern States Athletic Conference boasts the most Top 25 mentions with five teams: Auburn Montgomery, No. 7 Spring Hill (Ala.), No. 10 William Carey (Miss.), No. 14 Belhaven (Miss.) and No. 21 Brenau (Ga.).
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences /independent /unaffiliated groupings. The fourth regular-season Top 25 poll will be announced on April8.
For the complete calendar of 2014 Top 25 Polls, click here.
Notes: (all information dating back to 2000) The 13-straight No. 1 rankings for Concordia (Calif.) is the longest stretch for any program since former member California Baptist rattled through 24-consecutive polls from 2009 - 11… With 19 all-time No. 1 positions, Concordia now holds the third-most total trailing Oklahoma City by one for second-most... Overall, there have been 31 different teams to be ranked at least once this year (through four overall polls) and 19 of those programs have been ranked in every poll… Concordia has now held the No. 1 position in 17 of the last 19 polls dating back to the 2012 season…No. 2 Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 95-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which dates back to start of 2004 season; No. 10 William Carey (Miss.) is second with 58-consecutive mentions and Concordia is right behind at 49-straight polls… Since 2000, there have been 11 teams to be on top of the polls as former member California Baptist leads the way with 46 all-time No. 1 appearances, followed by Oklahoma City with 20, Concordia with 19, former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18, Thomas (Ga.) with 13, Mobile (Ala.) with five, former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) with four, Cal State San Marcos with two and Oklahoma Baptist with two -- Oregon Tech and former member Shorter (Ga.) each have one.
2014 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (April 1)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2014 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Concordia (Calif.) (20) | 36-4 | 560 |
| 2 | 3 | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | 19-3 | 536 |
| 3 | 4 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 26-3 | 521 |
| 4 | 5 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 14-2 | 482 |
| 5 | 13 | St. Gregory's (Okla.) | 28-4 | 475 |
| 6 | 7 | Cal State San Marcos | 27-3-1 | 465 |
| 7 | 6 | Spring Hill (Ala.) | 20-5 | 458 |
| 8 | 2 | Oklahoma City | 30-6 | 430 |
| 9 | 8 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 25-3 | 415 |
| 10 | 9 | William Carey (Miss.) | 26-2 | 414 |
| 11 | 10 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 30-7 | 382 |
| 12 | 11 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 14-2 | 367 |
| 13 | 12 | Biola (Calif.) | 26-6 | 361 |
| 14 | 14 | Belhaven (Miss.) | 25-6 | 314 |
| 15 | 14 | USC Beaufort (S.C.) | 21-5 | 288 |
| 16 | 17 | Oregon Tech | 17-5 | 282 |
| 17 | 15 | Park (Mo.) | 24-4 | 279 |
| 18 | 18 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 21-4 | 263 |
| 19 | 19 | Houston-Victoria (Texas) | 21-8 | 233 |
| 20 | 20 | Simpson (Calif.) | 26-5 | 218 |
| 21 | 21 | Brenau (Ga.) | 20-6 | 203 |
| 22 | 23 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 24-8 | 177 |
| 23 | 25 | Davenport (Mich.) | 18-4 | 138 |
| 24 | 22 | College of Idaho | 15-9 | 130 |
| 25 | RV | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 23-5 | 126 |
Others Receiving Votes: Oklahoma Baptist 91; William Woods (Mo.) 66; William Penn (Iowa) 48; Mobile (Ala.) 36; Georgia Gwinnett 25; Concordia (Neb.) 24; Evangel (Mo.) 22; Waldorf (Iowa) 16; Indiana Wesleyan 14; Madonna (Mich.) 10; Bethany (Kan.) 10; Concordia (Ore.) 6; Columbia (Mo.) 6; Grand View (Iowa) 4.
