2014 NAIA Softball Coaches? Top 25 Poll ? No. 6
Apr 22, 2014
By: Sam Knehans, Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Calif.) sits atop the NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll for the 16th-straight time, the national office announced Tuesday. The Eagles have topped all seven polls this season and every poll overall dating back to the first regular-season Top 25 on March 19, 2013. With 19 first-place votes and 590 total points, the defending national champion Eagles now have 22 all-time No. 1 rankings, which is second most all-time since the 2000 season.
Concordia maintained the No. 1 position after concluding its regular season 45-5. The Eagles, who clinched their third-straight Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) regular-season championship on April 12, will return to the field to compete in the GSAC Tournament on April 24, where they will take on the winner of Vanguard (Calif.) and Hope International (Calif.)
Auburn Montgomery checks in at No. 2 for the fourth-straight week with two first-place votes and 572 total points. The Warhawks are the No. 1 team in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC), holding a perfect 20-0 record with eight games remaining on their regular-season slate.
LSU Alexandria (La.) also holds its position for the fourth-straight poll with 553 points. The Generals have won six-straight, including a 10-3 win over NCAA Division I Alcorn State (Miss.) in their last outing. LSU Alexandria has been ranked among the top five since vaulting into the poll in the first regular-season edition on March 18.
No. 4 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and No. 5 Cal State San Marcos round out the top five with 509 and 507 points, respectively. Both teams boast at least 35 wins on the season. Olivet Nazarene is 40-2 and sits atop the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (17-1), while Cal State San Marcos is 35-5-1 and trails aforementioned LSU Alexandria (5-0) in the Association of Independent Institutions standings (5-0-1).
Concordia (Ore.) (27-15) was the lone newcomer to the Top 25 after receiving votes in every prior regular-season edition. College of Idaho (25-13) fell out of the Top 25.
Fourteen of 21 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups are represented this week’s poll. The SSAC places the most teams among the Top 25 with five: Auburn Montgomery, No. 6 William Carey (Miss.), No. 10 Spring Hill (Ala.), No. 13 Belhaven (Miss.) and No. 22 Brenau (Ga.). Both the Association of Independent Institutions and the Sooner Athletic Conference claim a trio of ranked programs.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences /independent /unaffiliated groupings. The seventh regular-season Top 25 poll will be announced on April 29.
For the complete calendar of 2014 Top 25 Polls, click here.
Notes: (All information dates back to 2000) In six of seven polls this year, the first-place votes have been split amongst at least two teams... The 16-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… Overall, there have been 32 different teams to be ranked at least once this year (through seven polls) and 18 of those programs have been ranked in every poll… Concordia has now held the No. 1 position in 20 of the last 22 polls overall dating back to the 2012 season…No. 18 Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 98-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which dates back to start of 2004 season; No. 6 William Carey (Miss.) is second with 61-consecutive mentions and Concordia is right behind at 52-straight polls… Since 2000, 11 teams have topped the poll with former member California Baptist leading the way with 46 all-time No. 1 appearances, followed by Concordia with 22, Oklahoma City with 20, 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. 6 (April 22)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia (Calif.) sits atop the NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll for the 16th-straight time, the national office announced Tuesday. The Eagles have topped all seven polls this season and every poll overall dating back to the first regular-season Top 25 on March 19, 2013. With 19 first-place votes and 590 total points, the defending national champion Eagles now have 22 all-time No. 1 rankings, which is second most all-time since the 2000 season.
Concordia maintained the No. 1 position after concluding its regular season 45-5. The Eagles, who clinched their third-straight Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) regular-season championship on April 12, will return to the field to compete in the GSAC Tournament on April 24, where they will take on the winner of Vanguard (Calif.) and Hope International (Calif.)
Auburn Montgomery checks in at No. 2 for the fourth-straight week with two first-place votes and 572 total points. The Warhawks are the No. 1 team in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC), holding a perfect 20-0 record with eight games remaining on their regular-season slate.
LSU Alexandria (La.) also holds its position for the fourth-straight poll with 553 points. The Generals have won six-straight, including a 10-3 win over NCAA Division I Alcorn State (Miss.) in their last outing. LSU Alexandria has been ranked among the top five since vaulting into the poll in the first regular-season edition on March 18.
No. 4 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and No. 5 Cal State San Marcos round out the top five with 509 and 507 points, respectively. Both teams boast at least 35 wins on the season. Olivet Nazarene is 40-2 and sits atop the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (17-1), while Cal State San Marcos is 35-5-1 and trails aforementioned LSU Alexandria (5-0) in the Association of Independent Institutions standings (5-0-1).
Concordia (Ore.) (27-15) was the lone newcomer to the Top 25 after receiving votes in every prior regular-season edition. College of Idaho (25-13) fell out of the Top 25.
Fourteen of 21 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups are represented this week’s poll. The SSAC places the most teams among the Top 25 with five: Auburn Montgomery, No. 6 William Carey (Miss.), No. 10 Spring Hill (Ala.), No. 13 Belhaven (Miss.) and No. 22 Brenau (Ga.). Both the Association of Independent Institutions and the Sooner Athletic Conference claim a trio of ranked programs.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences /independent /unaffiliated groupings. The seventh regular-season Top 25 poll will be announced on April 29.
For the complete calendar of 2014 Top 25 Polls, click here.
Notes: (All information dates back to 2000) In six of seven polls this year, the first-place votes have been split amongst at least two teams... The 16-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… Overall, there have been 32 different teams to be ranked at least once this year (through seven polls) and 18 of those programs have been ranked in every poll… Concordia has now held the No. 1 position in 20 of the last 22 polls overall dating back to the 2012 season…No. 18 Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 98-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which dates back to start of 2004 season; No. 6 William Carey (Miss.) is second with 61-consecutive mentions and Concordia is right behind at 52-straight polls… Since 2000, 11 teams have topped the poll with former member California Baptist leading the way with 46 all-time No. 1 appearances, followed by Concordia with 22, Oklahoma City with 20, 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. 6 (April 22)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2014 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Concordia (Calif.) (19) | 45-5 | 590 |
| 2 | 2 | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (2) | 31-3 | 572 |
| 3 | 3 | LSU Alexandria | 29-3 | 553 |
| 4 | 7 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 40-2 | 509 |
| 5 | 5 | Cal State San Marcos | 35-5-1 | 507 |
| 6 | 6 | William Carey (Miss.) | 34-4 | 497 |
| 7 | 4 | St. Gregory's (Okla.) | 41-7 | 494 |
| 8 | 8 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 37-5 | 462 |
| 9 | 10 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 35-3 | 435 |
| 10 | 11 | Spring Hill (Ala.) | 32-9 | 418 |
| 11 | 12 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 37-8 | 402 |
| 12 | 13 | Biola (Calif.) | 32-10 | 353 |
| 13 | 14 | Belhaven (Miss.) | 34-9 | 348 |
| 14 | 15 | USC Beaufort (S.C.) | 30-6 | 325 |
| 15 | 23 | Oklahoma Baptist | 34-13 | 318 |
| 16 | 16 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 32-5 | 305 |
| 17 | 18 | Simpson (Calif.) | 34-5 | 284 |
| 18 | 9 | Oklahoma City | 38-10 | 273 |
| 19 | 17 | Oregon Tech | 27-9 | 272 |
| 20 | 19 | Houston-Victoria (Texas) | 28-11 | 228 |
| 21 | 21 | William Woods (Mo.) | 34-15 | 205 |
| 22 | 20 | Brenau (Ga.) | 26-11 | 200 |
| 23 | 22 | Davenport (Mich.) | 29-7 | 166 |
| 24 | 25 | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 31-7 | 137 |
| 25 | RV | Concordia (Ore.) | 27-15 | 108 |
Others Receiving Votes: Taylor (Ind.) 53; College of Idaho 53; Columbia (Mo.) 53; Kansas Wesleyan 45; Madonna (Mich.) 45; Georgia Gwinnett 27; Park (Mo.) 25; Indiana Southeast 22; Georgetown (Ky.) 16; Mobile (Ala.) 14; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 12; Morningside (Iowa) 7; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 6; San Diego Christian (Calif.) 3; Waldorf (Iowa) 3.
