Results of the NAIA Coaches’ Poll for March 26, 2008. Comments below.
Rank | March19 | School (Region) | Record | Total Points |
1 | 1 | Lewis-Clark State (ID) (I) | 25-2 | 537 |
2 | 2 | Lee (TN) (XIII) | 34-1 | 533 |
3 | 3 | Lubbock Christian (TX) (VI) | 28-1 | 512 |
4 | 4 | Azusa Pacific (CA) (II) | 24-5 | 477 |
5 | 5 | Oklahoma City University (VI) | 33-3 | 468 |
6 | 8 | University of Mobile (AB) (XIII) | 26-7 | 409 |
7 | T9 | Tennessee Wesleyan College (XII) | 21-9 | 370 |
8 | 6 | Trevecca Nazarene (TN) (XI) | 19-7 | 368 |
9 | 7 | Spring Arbor University (MI) (VIII) | 6-2 | 365 |
10 | T9 | Wayland Baptist University (TX) (VI) | 28-5 | 352 |
11 | 12 | Warner Southern College (FL) (XIV) | 24-12 | 331 |
12 | 15 | Fresno Pacific University (CA) (II) | 19-7 | 300 |
13 | 16 | Union College (Ky.) (XII) | 23-6 | 267 |
14 | 17 | U. of the Cumberlands (KY) (XI) | 22-5 | 247 |
15 | 24 | Bethany College (KS) (IV) | 16-2 | 237 |
16 | 19 | Auburn-Montgomery (AL) | 24-10 | 183 |
17 | 20 | Embry-Riddle (FL) (XIV) | 23-10 | 180 |
18 | RV | University of St. Francis (IL) (VII) | 15-5 | 143 |
19 | RV | Avila University (MO) (V) | 13-5 | 120 |
20 | T13 | Ohio Dominican University (IX) | 10-5 | 116 |
21 | 23 | Biola University (CA) (II) | 17-8 | 99 |
22 | NR | Texas Wesleyan University (VI) | 18-8 | 85 |
23 | 25 | Jamestown College (ND) (III) | 12-4 | 79 |
24 | RV | Freed-Hardeman University (TN) (XI) | 20-6 | 65 |
25 | RV | Montreat College (NC) (XII) | 23-8 | 42 |
First-place votes: Lewis-Clark State 11, Lee 10, Lubbock Christian 1
#1 Lewis-Clark State swept four games against British Columbia over the weekend with a combined score of 58-17. Mike Guerrero pitched his second straight complete-game shutout; his record is now 5-0, 0.59 ERA. On Tuesday, they defeated Concordia-Portland 5-4 (10 innings), on a walk-off home run by Kyle Greene; Concordia-Portland led 4-2 going into the eighth. On Wednesday, they swept a double-header against Concordia; Matt Fitts got a complete-game win in the first game, running his record to 6-0. Greene is hitting .440 with eight home runs. The Warriors have now won 22 straight. A series scheduled at Oregon Tech this weekend was cancelled, and the Warriors don’t play again until April 4.
#2 Lee swept three games against Reinhardt, and shut out Bryan twice. The Flames have won 33 straight. Brian Bistagne leads the Flames in hitting with a .419 average. Relief Pitcher Jeff Ibarra is 6-0, 0.83 ERA. They play at Shorter this weekend.
#3 Lubbock Christian swept three games against against Oklahoma Christian, and defeated Hardin-Simmons. They have won 22 straight. They travel to Southern Nazarene this weekend. Their lead over #5 Oklahoma City in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings remains at 1 ½ games, and #10 Wayland Baptist has fallen to three games back. The showdown between the Chaparrals and Oklahoma City is scheduled for April 4-5.
#4 Azusa Pacific defeated Cal State San Marcos 11-8. They play Cal Baptist on Thursday, and Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday. They have an exhibition game with the Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Tuesday.
Azusa Pacific’s lead in the Golden State Athletic Conference over #12 Fresno Pacific remains at one game. The Sunbirds swept two non-conference games with Patten, and split with Concordia-Irvine. They play The Master’s on Thursday, and Cal Baptist on Saturday.
#5 Oklahoma City swept three games from Northwestern Oklahoma State. They won the first game 33-10, set the NAIA record for total bases in a game (81), and tied the NAIA record for home runs in a game (14). They play #10 Wayland Baptist this weekend.
#6 U. of Mobile swept three games against Loyola-New Orleans. They defeated #16 Auburn-Montgomery 5-2 on Wednesday; Zack Mann pitched 8 1/3 innings, held the Senators to four hits. The Rams travel to William Carey Friday and Saturday.
#7 Tennessee Wesleyan swept two games with Montreat, swept two games against Bluefield, and won a pair of close games against Shorter. They play at Virginia-Wise on Saturday.
#8 Trevecca Nazarene swept three games against Crichton this weekend. In the second game (score: 5-0), Wesley Griggs pitched a one-hit shutout. On Tuesday, they lost two games against Georgetown College. The Trojans play Bethel this weekend.
#9 Spring Arbor managed to play four games this week, two of them against Saint Francis (Fort Wayne, IN), but they had to move their home games games to Eastern Michigan’s field. They won 3-0 and 6-3; Jesse Bachman and Cody Sharp pitched complete games. On Wednesday, they split a double-header with Indiana Wesleyan; Shay Harden hit a grand slam home run in the Indiana Wesleyan win. The Cougars host Indiana Wesleyan on Thursday, and Goshen on Saturday.
#10 Wayland Baptist won two of three against Rogers State. They won the first game of the series 2-0, despite getting only one hit off Rogers State pitcher Chris Graves. Todd Jeffress got the shutout for the Pioneers; his record is 9-0, 0.92 ERA. The Pioneers have a showdown at #5 Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday.