2018 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Postseason Poll ? June 6

Jun 06, 2018

Story by Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Athletic Communications & Media

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first time in school history, Science & Arts (Okla.) is ranked No. 1 after winning its first-ever World Series championship, announced Wednesday by the national office. The Drovers collected all 18 first-place votes and 498 total points in the 2018 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Postseason Poll.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):

National champion Science & Arts (Okla.) won the World Series with a 4-1 victory against Columbia (Mo.) on May 31. The Drovers rattled through the event unscathed with a 4-0 mark.
The Drovers capped off its season with a 57-5 record, three All-Americans and Pitcher of the Year Emily Cerny.
Science & Arts will begin the 2019 season on a seven-game win streak.
As a team, the Drovers ranked sixth in the NAIA in runs scored per game (7.0) and 21st in batting average (.331).
National runner-up Columbia climbed up to No. 2 in the postseason edition. With a 37-16 record, the Cougars claimed its highest postseason finish and tied its highest Top 25 ranking – No. 2 on Jan. 16, 2018 (preseason).
No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan claims the most wins in the NAIA with a 58-12 mark.
No. 4 Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 135-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch. No. 22 William Carey (Miss.) is second with 98-consecutive mentions, followed by No. 19 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 59-straight.
Former member California Baptist tops the charts of most all-time No. 1 mentions with 46. Oklahoma City is second all-time with 43, followed by former member Concordia (Calif.) with 24, former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18 and Thomas (Ga.) with 13.

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 ratings) 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 appears on.
Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly.
For the complete calendar of 2018 Top 25 Polls,click here.

2018 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Postseason Poll

RANK	LAST WEEK^	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	2018 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	5	Science & Arts (Okla.) (18)	57-5	498
2	RV	Columbia (Mo.)	37-16	477
3	8	Southern Oregon	51-15	458
4	2	Oklahoma City	53-9	454
5	1	Georgia Gwinnett	53-6	433
6	3	Marian (Ind.)	51-7	425
7	7	Indiana Wesleyan	58-12	402
8	9	Mobile (Ala.)	45-15	372
9	21	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	36-16	366
10	17	Faulkner (Ala.)	47-15	351
11	4	Campbellsville (Ky.)	47-10	350
12	6	Hope International (Calif.)	47-11	309
13	20	Oregon Tech	39-15	263
14	10	Vanguard (Calif.)	50-12	260
15	15	St. Francis (Ill.)	41-9	255
16	16	Grand View (Iowa)	48-10	249
17	12	Thomas (Ga.)	39-16	232
18	11	Jamestown (N.D.)	44-9	230
19	13	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	40-16	227
20	14	Corban (Ore.)	37-15	214
21	18	Central Methodist (Mo.)	43-11	196
22	19	William Carey (Miss.)	39-15	167
23	23	Truett-McConnell (Ga.)	43-17	164
24	22	Southeastern (Fla.)	40-18	112
25	T25	Baker (Kan.)	41-16	91

Others Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 64; Midland (Neb.) 62; Valley City State (N.D.) 60; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 43; Tabor (Kan.) 36; Aquinas (Mich.) 32; Morningside (Iowa) 25; Brenau (Ga.) 23; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 9; Texas Wesleyan 9; Georgetown (Ky.) 7; Simpson (Calif.) 6; USC Beaufort (S.C.) 5.