Chaps remain #1 in Coaches' Poll - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With 19 first-place votes, Lubbock Christian (Texas) University lays claim to the No. 1 ranking in the fifth edition of the 2009 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced today (April 7). Winners in 13 of their last 15 games, the Chaps recorded 590 total points and are the top-ranked team for the third straight week and eighth time in the last 11 polls. LCU is 33-4 overall on the year and ranks in the Top 10 statistically in 13 different team categories.

Fellow Sooner Athletic Conference member Oklahoma City stays at No. 2 with 568 total points. The Stars own the most wins in the NAIA (36) and are the second-ranked team for the third straight week. OCU has been ranked in the Top 5 in 12 of the last 13 available polls. No. 3 Southern Poly State (Ga.), which grabbed the remaining two first-place votes, has won 20 of its last 21 games. Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) checks in at No. 4 while Union (Ky.) slides up two positions to No. 5.

In the one of the premier games this week, Point Loma Nazarene hosts No. 7 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) on Thursday (April 9) for a battle in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Five teams claimed a Top 25 ranking after not being listed last week: No. 17 William Carey (Miss.), No. 19 Southern Nazarene (Okla.), No. 21 William Woods (Mo.), No. 24 Tennessee Wesleyan and No. 25 William Jewell (Mo.). According to polls going back to 2000, this ranking is the first for William Woods.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the 24 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups. The sixth regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on April 14.

For more information on NAIA baseball, please click here.

NOTES: Lubbock Christian (Texas) has now been ranked No. 1 in eight of the last 11 available polls, dating back to 2008... Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) has been ranked in the Top 10 in every official Top 25 poll since 2000 - a span of 90 polls... During that same span (since 2000), LCSC has been No. 1 a total of 46 times which includes a stretch of 25 straight weeks which spanned during the 2006 through 2008 seasons... William Carey (Miss.) is ranked for the first time since No. 15 back on Nov. 17, 2005; Southern Nazarene (Okla.) is in the Top 25 for the first time in 3 weeks (March 17); Tennessee Wesleyan is ranked for the first time since the Preseason poll (Nov. 11); William Jewell is ranked for the first time since April 16, 2008 (No. 21).

2009 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - (April 7)

Others receiving votes:

Wayland Baptist University (Texas) 86; Thomas University (Ga.) 71; Ohio Dominican University 59; Robert Morris College (Ill.) 55; Northwood University (Texas) 48; Jamestown College (N.D.) 44; Cumberland University (Tenn.) 42; Taylor University (Ind.) 33; Milligan College (Tenn.) 28; Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) 23; Park University (Mo.) 21; Belhaven College (Miss.) 18; Nebraska Wesleyan University 12; Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) 10; Univ of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (Okla.) 6; Biola University (Calif.) 3; Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) 3; Saint Xavier University (Ill.) 1; Texas Wesleyan University 1; Bacone College (Okla.) 1; Davenport University (Mich.) 1; Spring Arbor University (Mich.) 1; California State University-San Marcos 1; California Baptist University 1; Mount Mercy College (Iowa) 1; Oklahoma Baptist University 1; Brescia University (Ky.) 1; University of South Carolina - Beaufort 1

* Record as submitted by conference rater

Source: LCU