After a historic season that featured two wins in the opening round of the NAIA National Championships, the softball team ascended two spots from the previous poll and is now No. 15 in the 2022 NAIA Softball Coaches Top 25 Postseason Poll the national office announced today.

The Saints were No. 17 in the poll on May 2 after debuting at No. 25 earlier in the season. The Saints had received votes since the first season of competition in 2010. Their most votes were 21 during that first year. In 2012, the Saints received 20 votes, and in 2013, the most votes they received was 44. In the following year, the Saints received 57 votes in 2014, and in 2015, the most votes the Saints received was 88. In 2016, the team received 10 votes. The last time the Saints received votes was in 2018, with 80 votes.

The Saints are the only Red River Athletic Conference team included in the final poll. Texas A&M University-Texarkana, which made nationals, but lost two of three games in the opening round, was last ranked No. 22.

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents).
• 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.

2022 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 POSTSEASON Poll (June 8, 2022)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	2	Oklahoma City [18]	54-6	498
2	1	Mobile (Ala.)	52-4	482
3	5	Science & Arts (Okla.)	53-10	466
4	11	Southeastern (Fla.)	52-13	448
5	3	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	54-6	429
6	7	Indiana Wesleyan	54-10	426
7	4	Oregon Tech	50-13	402
8	10	Grand View (Iowa)	46-12	386
9	23	Tennessee Wesleyan	37-9	362
10	RV	Webber International (Fla.)	42-24	352
11	6	William Carey (Miss.)	48-11	328
12	8	Southern Oregon	49-14	324
13	9	Central Methodist (Mo.)	42-7	318
14	15	Eastern Oregon	43-17	259
15	17	Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	46-13	241
16	18	Columbia (Mo.)	35-12	224
17	12	Georgia Gwinnett	36-20	221
18	12	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	38-17	217
19	14	Marian (Ind.)	40-13	208
20	16	Coastal Georgia	39-14	189
21	25	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	39-8	188
22	20	College of Idaho	43-17	146
23	RV	William Jessup (Calif.)	39-15	140
24	19	Madonna (Mich.)	31-9	122
25	21	Campbellsville (Ky.)	38-18	114

• Dropped from the Top 25: Texas A&M Texarkana, Embry Riddle (Ariz.)
• Others Receiving Votes: Texas A&M Texarkana 102, Midland (Neb.) 95, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 93, Ottawa (Kan.) 76, Rio Grande (Ohio) 28, Bellevue (Neb.) 21, Bryan (Tenn.) 16, Friends (Kan.) 14, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 11, Vanguard (Calif.) 5, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 3.