The baseball team improved to No. 22 from No. 24 in the 2021 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. They received 124 votes this week.

Since April 14, when the last poll was released, the Saints have won six of eight games. They won the series against the University of the Southwest 3-1 with scores of 2-3, 5-3, 9-1 and 11-0. They also won the three-game series against Oklahoma Panhandle State University 2-1 with scores of 4-3, 13-14 and 11-7. During this time, Head Coach Bryan Aughney marked his 100th win at OLLU and 225 in his career.

The Saints first entered the Top 25 in the second poll of the season on March 31 with a ranking of No. 21, and No. 24 in the third poll on April 14.

The Saints are tied with LSU-Alexandria (LSUA) in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) – both teams are 16-4 in the conference, while OLLU is 30-15 overall and LSUA is 26-21. The two teams are one game ahead of LSU-Shreveport (LSUS) (15-5/31-12).  

Statistically, in the conference, the Saints are No. 1 in ERA (4.98) and batters struck out (357). They are ranked 17th in the NAIA in assists with 401 and 18th in triples with 16.

The only other RRAC opponent included in the poll was LSU-Shreveport, which received 74 votes.

In the conference ratings, the Saints remain first, followed by LSUS, LSUA and Texas A&M University – Texarkana.

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 4 (April 28, 2021)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	1	Tennessee Wesleyan [19]	43-4	529
2	2	Southeastern (Fla.)	38-6	510
3	3	Cumberlands (Ky.)	40-6	489
4	4	Central Methodist (Mo.)	38-5	484
5	6	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	35-3	446
6	7	Oklahoma Wesleyan	39-5	438
7	5	Faulkner (Ala.)	29-6	437
8	8	Georgia Gwinnett	32-9	407
9	9	Vanguard (Calif.)	35-13	377
10	15	Loyola (La.)	30-11	368
11	13	Science & Arts (Okla.)	28-9	366
12	18	St. Thomas (Fla.)	32-17	334
13	12	Hope International (Calif.)	24-12	324
14	10	Keiser (Fla.)	30-13	289
14	11	Middle Georgia State	30-15	289
16	19	Indiana Wesleyan	39-12	277
17	14	Bryan (Tenn.)	30-14	255
18	20	Indiana Southeast (Ind.)	36-13	247
19	16	Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.)	25-10	194
20	22	Concordia (Neb.)	30-7	187
21	RV	Oklahoma City	28-13	136
22	24	Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	30-15	124
23	RV	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	33-12	121
24	23	McPherson (Kan.)	33-9	119
25	17	Reinhardt (Ga.)	29-16	115

Dropped from the Top 25: Bellevue (Neb.), Taylor (Ind.)

Others Receiving Votes: Bellevue (Neb.) 92, Westmont (Calif.) 81, LSU Shreveport (La.) 74, Webber International (Fla.) 73, William Carey (Miss.) 71, Columbia (Mo.) 63, Point Park (Pa.) 25, Taylor (Ind.) 22, Warner (Fla.) 17, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 13, Georgetown (Ky.) 6, Concordia (Mich.) 3.