2015 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll
World Series champion Lewis-Clark State ends the year at No. 1
By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series champion Lewis-Clark State
(Idaho) ranks No. 1 in the postseason installment of the 2015 NAIA Baseball Coaches’
Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Warriors claimed all 17 firstplace votes and 467 points en route to their 54th top billing since 2000.
Lewis-Clark State, which was last
ranked No. 1 on May 12, 2010, won
its 17th World Series title with a 107 come from behind victory against
St. Thomas (Fla.) on May 29. The
fourth-seeded Warriors (46-12) –
only the fifth team seeded fourth-orhigher to win the national
championship since the current
seeding format began in 2003 –
scored nine unanswered runs in the
finale after erasing a five-run deficit
against Faulkner (Ala.) the night
before. The banner is the first for
Lewis-Clark State since 2008.
Significant movement occurred throughout the entire poll, as only No. 17 Northwestern
Ohio and No. 23 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) held their spots from the final regular-season
edition.
World Series runner-up St. Thomas accrued 451 points to grab the No. 2 ranking – its
first top five billing since April 25, 2007. No. 3 Faulkner (Ala.) (438 points), No. 4
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (419 points) and No. 5 Concordia (Calif.) (404 points) round out the
top five. Of the quintet, only Faulkner ranked in the top 10 in the May 8 edition.
No. 8 Vanguard (Calif.), No. 10 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and No. 25 Bryan (Tenn.) are the
only newcomers this week. The Lions, who were previously unranked, stormed through
the Santa Clarita Bracket to qualify for the World Series for only the second time in
program history. Vanguard’s other trip came back in 1985.
Lindsey Wilson, which was lasted ranked No. 22 on March 17, made program history
with its first-ever World Series appearance two weeks ago. The Blue Raiders won the
Kingsport Bracket to punch their ticket to Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
In its second Opening Round appearance, Bryan went 2-2 in the Daytona Beach Bracket
after losing to Rio Grande (Ohio), 5-4, on May 14.
The Golden State Athletic Conference – Concordia, Vanguard, No. 19 Westmont (Calif.)
and No. 24 The Master’s (Calif.) – leads all leagues with four teams represented.