Results of the NAIA Coaches’ Poll for April 23, 2008. Comments below.
| Rank | Apr. 16 | School (Region) | Record | Total Points |
| 1 | 1 | Lubbock Christian (TX) (VI) | 43-1 | 525 |
| 2 | 2 | Lewis-Clark State (ID) (I) | 40-4 | 500 |
| 3 | 3 | Lee (TN) (XIII) | 49-5 | 487 |
| 4 | 4 | Oklahoma City University (VI) | 44-8 | 454 |
| 5 | 5 | Azusa Pacific (CA) (II) | 37-8 | 443 |
| 6 | 6 | University of Mobile (AB) (XIII) | 39-10 | 415 |
| 7 | 7 | U. of the Cumberlands (KY) (XI) | 39-10 | 386 |
| 8 | 8 | Embry-Riddle (FL) (XIV) | 36-12 | 385 |
| T9 | 9 | Tennessee Wesleyan College (XII) | 35-13 | 340 |
| T9 | 10 | Spring Arbor University (MI) (VIII) | 24-5 | 340 |
| 11 | 11 | Wayland Baptist (TX) (VI) | 39-10-1 | 310 |
| 12 | 12 | Fresno Pacific University (CA) (II) | 31-11 | 290 |
| 13 | 14 | University of St. Francis (IL) (VII) | 34-7 | 283 |
| 14 | 13 | Union College (KY) (XII) | 35-11 | 223 |
| 15 | 16 | Bellevue (NE) (IV) | 32-11 | 220 |
| 16 | 17 | Trevecca Nazarene (TN) (XI) | 30-11 | 214 |
| 17 | 19 | Biola University (CA) (II) | 32-12 | 192 |
| 18 | 15 | Auburn-Montgomery (AL) (XIII) | 37-18 | 169 |
| 19 | 18 | Texas Wesleyan (VI) | 33-12 | 154 |
| 20 | 22 | Malone College (OH) (IX) | 31-9 | 129 |
| 21 | 20 | LSU-Shreveport (XIII) | 38-12 | 108 |
| 22 | NR | Avila (MO) (V) | 27-11 | 68 |
| 23 | 23 | Warner Southern (FL) (XIV) | 30-20 | 67 |
| 24 | RV | Southern Polytechnic (GA) (XIII) | 37-13 | 32 |
| 25 | RV | Madonna (MI) (VIII) | 29-11 | 26 |
First-place votes: Lubbock Christian 21
#1 Lubbock Christian swept three games against against the U. of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, and clinched the Sooner Athletic Conference pennant. The Chaparrals have won 36 straight. Chase Robertson leads the Chaparrals in hitting with an average of .446. The Chaparrals finish their regular season with three games against #11 Wayland Baptist. They play in Lubbock Thursday and Saturday, and Plainview, TX on Friday. The series will be webcast by the Texas Sports Radio Network.
#2 Lewis-Clark State got a shutout at Concordia-Portland on April 13. They followed this with two shutouts against Division III Whitworth, and two more shutouts against Corban. Corban finally scored an run in the fifth inning of third game of the series, an 8-1 win for Lewis-Clark State. This run ended a streak of 51 scoreless innings, an NAIA record. Nine different Warriors pitched during the streak. Ryan Woods pitched the most shutout innings (9), and he was on the mound when the unearned run was scored. Woods is 6-1, 2.19 ERA on the season. The Warriors travel to Division I Gonzaga on Wednesday, and British Columbia Friday-Sunday. Most L-C State games are webcast by KOZE Radio.
#3 Lee swept three games at Emmanuel, clinching the Southern States Athletic Conference pennant in the process. The third win of the series was the 100th career win for Flames Coach Mark Brew, who is in his second year at Lee. The Flames face Brewton-Parker on Wednesday in the first round of the SSAC tournament.
#4 Oklahoma City swept three games against Oklahoma Baptist, which was ranked #24 at the time. They won the first game 3-2, and it was a good one. The Stars went into the ninth with a 3-0 lead, but the Bison loaded the bases in the top of the ninth. Billy Thomas singled in two runs, but the tying run was stranded on second base when Garrett Parker got Kyle Cooper to hit a fly ball to right field. The Stars finish their regular season with home-and-home games against Southern Nazarene on Thursday and Saturday.
#5 Azusa Pacific got a pair of big wins against Cal Baptist, and swept a double-header at Vanguard. The Cougars finish their regular season with games against Westmont on Thursday and Tuesday, and they host a double-header against #17 Biola on Saturday. They lead the Golden State Athletic Conference by two games, and their magic number to clinch (APU wins + #12 Fresno Pacific losses) is three.
#6 U. of Mobile swept three games against Tougaloo, and none of them were close. The Rams have clinched the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference pennant. They finish their regular season at #21 LSU-Shreveport on Friday and Saturday.
#7 U. of the Cumberlands lost to Belmont 10-4, and mercy-ruled Alice Lloyd. Next up for the Patriots is a first-round game in the Mid-South Conference tournament against Pikeville on Thursday.
#8 Embry-Riddle won two games againt Florida Memorial. The second game was mercy-ruled, and Florida Memorial forfeited a scheduled third game. They lost to Division II Rollins 13-6. Jordan Roberts is 8-2, 1.75 ERA for the Eagles. The Eagles host a double-header against Thomas on Saturday, and a single game against Rollins on Tuesday.
#9 Tennessee Wesleyan defeated Bryan twice, and defeated Georgetown College 1-0; Rob Sherwood got the shutout for the Bulldogs. They finish the regular season with a double-header at King College on Saturday.
#9 Spring Arbor won four games against Grace, and only the first one was close. They got two more wins against Marian. They finish their regular season at Marian on Thursday, then host Great Lakes Christian in a Mid-Central College Conference tournament pre-qualifier on Saturday.
#11 Wayland Baptist swept three games against Northwest Oklahoma State, and defeated Division II Eastern New Mexico 20-4. Brett Cook hit his 17th home run of the season against Eastern New Mexico, setting a new school record. The Pioneers finish their regular season with a home-and-home series with #1 Lubbock Christian.
#12 Fresno Pacific defeated The Master’s twice, and split a double-header with Point Loma Nazarene. They finish the regular season with games at #17 Biola on Thursday and Tuesday, and a double-header at San Diego Christian on Saturday.
#13 Saint Francis, #15 Bellevue, #16 Trevecca Nazarene, #17 Biola, #20 Malone, and Alice Lloyd are sponsored by DeMarini.
The College Baseball Blog will be providing first-hand coverage of the NAIA Baseball National Championship from Lewiston, ID May 23-30.
4 comments
Jeff Sonnenberg from No. 25 Madonna (MI) pitched a no-hitter last week at Aquinas (MI) and was named pitcher of the week. Madonna will win the regular season title for the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.
The game scheduled between Lewis-Clark State and Gonzaga was rained out. It has been re-scheduled for May 12. That will be a pretty good trick; The Warriors are scheduled to play in the Region I tournament (probably in Vancouver) May 8-10, and play at Washington May 13.
Let’s see how long Ed Cheff has to wait for that 1,600th win.
Sonnenberg’s no-hitter completely slipped under my radar screen. Here’s the story from the Madonna site: http://ww3.madonna.edu/crusaders/2004%20Site/baseball/Releases/2008/041908_atAQ.htm
The box score was actually more interesting. It was a seven-inning game. The Aquinas pitcher also went the distance, and the result was, this game only took 1:35 to play.
Sonnenberg’s numbers for the season are 3-1, 1.46 ERA, 37 K. He’s also .389 at the plate, but only 18 at-bats.
Madonna has been that under the radar team in Region VIII, which is the same region as Spring Arbor. Last year, MU defeated SAU in the regional tournament before the Cougars came back to win the championship and head out to Lewiston. Also in that region is Indiana Tech, but they aren’t the same team as years past since Randy Stegall took over Embry-Riddle.
You should see an MU-SAU regional final again this season.
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