For the first time in OLLU baseball history, the Saints have been ranked in the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. In the first poll, the Saints received votes, but this time around, they cracked the Top 25 to land at No. 21.
Tennessee Wesleyan grabbed 17 of the 19 first-place votes in the second edition of the Top 25. Southeastern stayed put at No. 2 with two first-place votes, while Cumberlands also remained in the same spot at No. 3. Central Methodist and Faulkner both moved-up one spot and rounded out the top five. Both No. 15 Science & Arts and No. 16 Reinhardt jumped seven spots this week.
The Saints have won 14 of their last 16 games for a record of 20-10 and are undefeated in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) at 8-0. The Saints also jumped to the top of the conference rankings after defeated previous league leader LSU-Shreveport in a four-game sweep last week. As a result, the previous No. 13 ranked Pilots dropped out of the Top 25 to receive 15 votes.
The Saints are under the helm of third-year Head Coach Bryan Aughney, who just marked his 215 career win and is nine wins short of his 100th win at OLLU.
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 rating) 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 appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
- The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2021 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll 2 (March 31, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Tennessee Wesleyan [17] | 26-2 | 528 |
| 2 | 2 | Southeastern (Fla.) [2] | 29-3 | 513 |
| 3 | 3 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 26-5 | 486 |
| 4 | 5 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 23-3 | 478 |
| 5 | 6 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 15-2 | 450 |
| 6 | 4 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 27-7 | 424 |
| 7 | 9 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 22-2 | 422 |
| 8 | 8 | Keiser (Fla.) | 28-6 | 413 |
| 9 | 7 | Georgia Gwinnett | 21-7 | 410 |
| 10 | 16 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 22-3 | 389 |
| 11 | 11 | Middle Georgia State | 21-9 | 350 |
| 12 | 10 | Hope International (Calif.) | 18-10 | 339 |
| 13 | 15 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 21-8 | 319 |
| 14 | 12 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 21-12 | 288 |
| 15 | 22 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 16-7 | 275 |
| 16 | 23 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 20-9 | 247 |
| 17 | 18 | Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | 14-7 | 244 |
| 18 | 20 | Taylor (Ind.) | 24-7 | 226 |
| 19 | 17 | McPherson (Kan.) | 21-5 | 207 |
| 20 | 24 | Concordia (Neb.) | 20-3 | 184 |
| 21 | NR | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 20-9 | 157 |
| 22 | NR | Loyola (La.) | 20-8 | 156 |
| 23 | RV | Indiana Wesleyan | 25-9 | 150 |
| 24 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 21-4 | 146 |
| 25 | 19 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 15-14 | 132 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Webber International (Fla.), Oklahoma City, LSU Shreveport (La.), William Carey (Miss.)
Others Receiving Votes: Webber International (Fla.) 100, Indiana Southeast (Ind.) 96, Oklahoma City 80, Westmont (Calif.) 51, Columbia (Mo.) 25, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 22, Mobile (Ala.) 21, Point (Ga.) 20, Bellevue (Neb.) 20, LSU Shreveport (La.) 15, Asbury (Ky.) 10, Clarke (Iowa) 9, Huntington (Ind.) 8, Concordia (Mich.) 7, William Carey (Miss.) 3.