Thursday, April 14, 2005
SAINTS BASEBALL JUMPS ONE SPOT IN LATEST NAIA RANKING
Dahlonega, Ga. – Taking two of three Southern States Athletic Conference games and winning eight of their last 11 ball games, the North Georgia College & State University baseball team moved up a spot to number 17 in the rankings released by the NAIA this week.
The Saints went 4-2 last week with two big wins over conference rival Southern Polytechnic State University over the weekend. North Georgia is currently 43-12 overall and 21-9 in the SSAC. Currently in second place with a three game lead over SPSU, the Saints look to lock up a second seed in the conference tournament in a three game series against Shorter College beginning tomorrow.
The top three spots in the rankings remained the same with Embry-Riddle University remaining in the top spot with 22 first place votes. Lee University moved up a spot to sixth in the nation while Cumberland University took a tumble, falling from eighth place last week to 21st this week. Four new teams entered the poll with Spalding leading the charge after jumping up to 16th place with a 32-13 record.
North Georgia and Shorter will place tomorrow afternoon in a single game beginning at 3:00 p.m. The game tomorrow will be broadcast live on Glory 1330 AM along with game one on Saturday afternoon.
NAIA Baseball Ranking as of April 13, 2005
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (Region) |
1ST PLACE VOTES |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
1 |
1 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (XIV) |
22 |
40-3-0 |
592 |
2 |
2 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (I) |
2 |
27-5-0 |
567 |
3 |
3 |
Houston Baptist (Texas) (VI) |
|
29-5-0 |
555 |
4 |
5 |
Bellevue (Neb.) (IV) |
|
34-7-0 |
520 |
5 |
6 |
Oklahoma City (VI) |
|
41-8-0 |
488 |
6 |
7 |
Lee (Tenn.) (XIII) |
|
39-9-0 |
480 |
7 |
4 |
Lyon (Ark.) (XI) |
|
40-10-0 |
454 |
8 |
9 |
Biola (Calif.) (II) |
|
26-7-1 |
445 |
9 |
10 |
Benedictine (Kan.) (V) |
|
27-9-0 |
368 |
10 |
13 |
Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (XI) |
|
34-11-0 |
340 |
11 |
11 |
William Penn (Iowa) (VII) |
|
29-8-0 |
337 |
12 |
14 |
Louisiana State-Shreveport |
|
30-10-0 |
330 |
13 |
15 |
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (II) |
|
27-8-0 |
309 |
14 |
19 |
Ohio Dominican (IX) |
|
30-9-0 |
287 |
15 |
12 |
Lubbock Christian (Texas) (VI) |
|
35-10-0 |
210 |
16 |
NR |
Spalding (Ky.) (XII) |
|
32-13-0 |
194 |
17 |
18 |
North Georgia (XIII) |
|
41-12-0 |
175 |
18 |
16 |
Madonna (Mich.) (VIII) |
|
23-9-0 |
165 |
19 |
21 |
McKendree (Ill.) (V) |
|
29-11-0 |
161 |
20 |
NR |
Campbellsville (Ky.) (XI) |
|
32-10-0 |
141 |
21 |
8 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) (XI) |
|
34-11-0 |
105 |
22 |
22 |
British Columbia (I) |
|
21-11-1 |
96 |
23 |
20 |
Dakota State (S.D.) (III) |
|
20-8-0 |
91 |
24 |
NR |
Tennessee Wesleyan (XII) |
|
23-6-0 |
76 |
25 |
NR |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (VII) |
|
24-9-0 |
67 |
Others Receiving Votes: Flagler (Fla.) (XIV), 64; Rio Grande (Ohio), 30; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (IV), 28; Oklahoma Baptist (VI), 24; Jamestown (N.D.) (III), 13; Albertson (Idaho) (I), 12; Missouri Baptist (V), 11; Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) (XIII), 11 ; St. Thomas (Fla.) (XIV), 11; Bethany (Kan.) (IV), 9; Warner Southern (Fla.) (XIV), 7; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (XI), 6; Walsh (Ohio) (IX), 6; Culver-Stockton (Mo.) (V), 5; California Baptist (II), 3; Marian (Ind.) (VII), 2; Milligan (Tenn.) (XII), 2; St. Ambrose (Iowa) (VII), 2; Friends (Kan.) (IV), 1.