By: Chad Waller, Director of Communications & Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City locks down the No. 1 position for the fifth-straight week, gathering all 21 first-place votes and 591 points in the fifth regular-season edition of the 2015 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Stars move up to No. 2 all-time with 25 No. 1 rankings.

Oklahoma City boasts the NAIA’s best winning percentage (.974) with a 37-1 mark. The Stars have rattled off 14-straight wins recently. On April 10, Oklahoma City handed coach Phil McSpadden his 1,458^th career win to set the all-time four-year college wins record amongst NAIA and NCAA programs. On Tuesday, the Stars face SAGU (Texas) for a doubleheader.

The rest of the top five held steady with No. 2 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (568 points), No. 3 Concordia (Calif.) (551 points), No. 4 LSU Alexandria (La.) (535 points) and No. 5 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (511 points).

No. 21 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.), moving up three spots, was the best improvement this week. Conversely, No. 10 St. Gregory’s (Okla.) suffered a poll-high four-spot fall.

No. 24 Marian (Ind.) and No. 25 Grand View (Iowa) both hop in as newcomers. This is the first Top 25 ranking of the year for both programs.

The following teams dropped out this week: Indiana Wesleyan (No. 18) and Belhaven (Miss.) (No. 25).

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences /independent /unaffiliated groupings. The sixth regular-season Top 25 will be announced on April 21.

For the complete calendar of 2015 Top 25 Polls, click here.

Notes: (all information dating back to 2000) Through six polls (including preseason), there have been 35 different ranked teams this year… No. 3 Concordia (Calif.) leads the NAIA with 39 total wins… Seventeen programs have held a Top 25 ranking in each of the six polls… No. 4 LSU Alexandria (La.) is in its second-season of being eligible for the polls and has held a top-10 ranking for 15-straight weeks… Preseason No. 1 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) is looking to become the first team to be on top of the preseason charts and win the national championship in the same season since Oklahoma City did so in 2002… Last year, there were 36 different teams ranked, with 16 of them ranked in every poll... Oklahoma City and Auburn Montgomery have held a No. 1 ranking this year – last year, Auburn Montgomery and Concordia were the only No. 1 ranked teams... Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 107-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 70-consecutive mentions and No. 3 Concordia is right behind at 61-straight polls… Since 2000, 12 teams have topped the poll with former member California Baptist leading the way with 46 all-time No. 1 appearances, followed by Oklahoma City at 25, Concordia with 24, former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18, Thomas (Ga.) with 13, Mobile (Ala.) with five, former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) with four, Auburn Montgomery, Cal State San Marcos and Oklahoma Baptist with two apiece – Oregon Tech and former member Shorter (Ga.) each have one.

2015 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – April 14

Receiving Votes: Reinhardt (Ga.) 81; Belhaven (Miss.) 75; Kansas Wesleyan 73; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 66; Indiana Wesleyan 62; Simpson (Calif.) 56; Bellevue (Neb.) 36; Doane (Neb.) 29; Georgia Gwinnett 16; Southeastern (Fla.) 15; Bryan (Tenn.) 11; Rio Grande (Ohio) 5; Madonna (Mich.) 3; Jamestown (N.D.) 3.