The 57^th NAIA baseball season is already under way, and the Golden State Athletic Conference is already playing conference matchups. The season gets going in earnest this weekend. Defending champion Tennessee Wesleyan visits #9 Faulkner, #2 LSU-Shreveport visits William Carey, Northwestern Ohio visits #3 Lee, #23 Doane visits #4 Oklahoma City, #5 Rogers State visits Arlington Baptist, #20 Georgetown College (KY) visits #7 Embry-Riddle, and #10 Oklahoma Baptist visits Southwestern Oklahoma.

Here is an evaluation of the top 10 teams according to the pre-season coaches' poll:

#1 – Tennessee Wesleyan: Pre-season All-American OF Jake Stone (.407, 13 home runs) is back. He had a great summer, led the Coastal Plain League in hitting with a .375 average. Other returnees are OF-DH Drew Levi (.326, 12 HR), OF Travis Burnside (.284), RHP Corey Rhoney (10-0, 2.31 ERA, 64 K), and LHP Josh Coller (10-2, 3.02 ERA, 99 K). The Bulldogs also have a prize recruit, OF Kendall Radcliffe, selected in the 25th round of the 2013 MLB Draft. Games to watch: at Faulkner Feb. 2, at Auburn-Montgomery Feb. 3, Lee Feb. 12, Lindsey Wilson Feb. 20, Georgetown C. March 19, Lee March 27, Cumberland March 29-30, at Georgetown C. April 3, at Lee April 9

#2 – LSU-Shreveport: OF Kyle Pearson (.353, 14 HR, 66 RBI, 13 stolen bases, 1.000 fielding percentage) is a pre-season All-American. Other returnees are 1B Greg Friesen (.391, 15 HR, 68 RBI), OF Kade Billeaudeaux (.380), RHP Jason Mouton (1-0, 3.60 ERA), RHP Ben Suit (2-0, 2.25 ERA), LHP Jake Byrd (0-0, 0.00 ERA), and LHP Caleb Olsen (0-0, 0.00 ERA). C Jared Vial is a newcomer with the Pilots. Games to watch: Houston-Victoria Feb. 8-9, at Houston-Victoria Feb. 12, Southern Arkansas Feb. 19, Texas-Tyler March 19, at Southern Arkansas April 2, at Centenary April 17, Centenary April 23

Read more: 2013 season preview

It wasn't pretty, but five Biola pitchers combined for a 6-0 no-hitter against The Master's, giving the Eagles the series win, and their first no-hitter since 1970.

Josh Staumont pitched the first 5 1/3 innings for the Eagles, got the win. He struck out three, walked five. The next pitcher, Garrett Picha, faced only one batter. He walked him, and threw a wild pitch while doing it. He was relieved by Erick Allen, who went 2 1/3 innings. Javier Martinez came in with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and a ground ball to third base was scored as an error, the only one of the game. Martinez got a fly out to end the inning, and struck out the first batter in the bottom of the ninth. Will Emerson recorded a fly out and a strikeout to complete the no-hitter.

C Nick Oddo went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI for the Eagles. 1B Sage Poland singled in the winning run in the second inning. Eagles Head Coach John Verhoeven didn't realize that his team got a no-hitter until ten minutes after the game was over.

Story from Biola site: Five Biola Pitchers Combine to No-Hit The Master's

The Eagles and Mustangs traded 2-0 shutouts on Saturday. A.J. Work and Daniel Sheaffer combined for the shutout for the Mustangs in the first game, Nick Turner and Javier Martinez combined for the shutout for the Eagles in the second game.

LHP Cole Swanson, a transfer from San Diego State (he pitched 26 1/3 innings for the Aztecs last year, struck out 21), got the start for Concordia-Irvine's season opener, and he delivered a complete-game one-hitter against Arizona Christian. He struck out 14. The one hit was a two-run home run by 1B Ryan Jones in the seventh inning. The final score was 4-2. The winning run for the Eagles came on an RBI single by LF Dylan Bryant in the fifth inning. 1B Bryan Garza completed the Eagles' scoring with a home run in the sixth.

Read more: GSAC: Biola gets no-hitter, Swanson strikes out 14 for Concordia

The Eagles, the pre-season pick to win the Golden State Athletic Conference, got a win in the first good matchup this season. The Tritons are ranked #23 in the Division II pre-season poll.

The Eagles got an early 2-0 lead on an RBI single by C Chris Kuber and a sacrifice fly by SS Matt Palmer. The Tritons got one back on a solo home run by starting pitcher Justin Rahn. The Eagles took a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth on RBI singles by 2B Spencer Ofelt and DH Joe Golderberg, and a run scored by Ofelt on a double play. However, the Tritons tied it with four runs on the bottom of the fifth, led by a two-RBI triple by 1B Richard Siegel. Siegel actually hit a home run, but the home run was taken away because he failed to touch home plate.

Four Eagles pitchers, Chris Garrison, Phil Gerber, Sean Buford, and Danny Romero, held the Tritons scoreless the rest of the way. Gerber and Buford pitched hitless innings, and Romero, who pitched the 11th inning, struck out three of the four batters he faced.

The Eagles pushed across the winning run when Kuber and Palmer drew walks to start the 11th inning. Pinch-hitter Chance Kopacz hit a ground ball to shortstop, and a throwing error by the second baseman allowed Steven Hurst, pinch-running for Kuber, to score.

Rahn finished the game 3-for-4 for the Tritons. Buford got the win for the Eagles, and Romero got a save.

Read more: Concordia-Irvine 6, UC San Diego 5 (11 innings)

11 South pitchers combined to hold the North to four hits in a game played in Daytona Beach, FL. The South led the game all the way, starting with two unearned runs in the top of the first. The South extended their lead to 4-0 with a two-RBI double by 2B Andy Ruiz (Florida Memorial) in the top of the second.

The North answered with a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI triple by CF Billy Farrell (Webber International), who then came home on a ground out by 2B Terry McClinton (South Carolina-Beaufort). The North got as close as 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh when LF Josh Longbrake (Webber International) was hit by a pitch, and scored on an error.

The South got the winning run in the top of the eighth. CF Brandon Kirby (Warner) walked, stole second and third, and scored on a throwing error.

Read more: South wins Sun Conference All-Star game 7-4

John Verhoeven, Head Coach of the Biola Eagles for 16 seasons, has resigned, effective at the end of the 2013 season.

Verhoeven is a highly-regarded coach at a highly-regarded program. His record is 521-275-6, and he had only one losing season. He took the Eagles to five Golden State Athletic Conference championships, and to the Baseball National Championship in 2001, 2003, and 2005.

Verhoeven played four American League seasons as a right-handed pitcher with the Angels, White Sox, and Twins. He had a career ERA of 3.76.

Official Biola University press release: Baseball Coach John Verhoeven to Resign at End of Season

The 2012-13 NAIA Coaches' Preseason poll, released November 13:

First place votes: Tennessee Wesleyan 17, Lee 2

Preseason All-Americans

Jeremy Christian is going into his second year as Head Coach of the Virginia Intermont Cobras. Virginia Intermont is in Bristol, VA, and competes in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Bob Broughton, courtesyrunner.com: You played at Milligan, and you were an assistant coach at Union College (KY). Your team at Union College was ranked #7, so you know how to win. The year before you came here, VI was 8-41.

Jeremy Christian: We were 15-33 in my first season here.

BB: So you nearly doubled the number of wins. What made that possible?

JC: The biggest thing we've done here is change the mentality of the program. I knew coming in that I was here to rebuild the program. I've been fortunate enough to have worked at other places. At Brevard Junior College we had a #3 ranking in the country. At Milligan, we won a conference championship. At Union College, I won a conference championship as a coach. So I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how to win.

At VI, they had four or five down years, and weren't as competitive as they would have liked to have been. In order to get those guys to be able to compete, I had to change the mentality. I really came in and changed everything about the program. We painted the office. We threw everything away. I changed everything about the program except the logo. Then I brought in guys who wanted to work, wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves. And then the rest was just baseball.

Read more: Interview with Virginia Intermont Coach Jeremy Christian

Six NAIA schools with baseball teams will the playing their final NAIA season this spring.

The most prominent departure is Lee. Their record for the past six seasons under Head Coach Mark Brew has been astonishing: 326-771-1, a trip to the Baseball National Championship every season, and they came within one out of winning the championship in 2008.

Lee also has successful in women's basketball and soccer, and volleyball. However, until recently, they had some difficulty attracting press attention in southeastern Tennessee, and the "NCAA brand" was a factor in their decision. Also a factor was the loss of traditional opponents, Union U. (TN), Berry, and Shorter to Division II.

Lee will become a member of the Gulf South Conference.

Lubbock Christian has a well-funded baseball program. They won the National Championship in 1983 and 2009, and were runners-up in 2011. They will be competing in the Heartland Conference.

Read more: Lee, Lubbock Christian, Rogers State moving to Division II

Jeremiah Robbins, who coached Division II power Western Oregon to seven straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles, and ran up a record of 252-109, was hired as Head Coach as Lewis-Clark State on June 22.

Gary Picone, who coached the Warriors the past two seasons, continues as Lewis-Clark State's Athletic Director. His record was 80-31, and the Warriors won the NAIA West regular season pennant in 2012.

The general reaction in Lewiston was, they got the guy they wanted.

Rob Pegg, former Head Coach of Division II Colorado Christian, has been hired as Head Coach at Vanguard. Pegg was the starting catcher for the Lions in the 1996 and 1997 season. He was at Colorado Christian for seven years, and is the only head coach that program has had. Story from Vanguard site: Lions Pegg New Skipper