NAIA coaches' poll for March 31, 2015, with Boyd Nation's ISR. Recaps below.
RANK |
ISR |
PRVS |
SCHOOL |
2015 |
TOTAL |
1 |
6 |
2 |
Faulkner (AL) |
32-6 |
590 |
2 |
12 |
4 |
Tabor (KS) |
32-4 |
559 |
3 |
8 |
6 |
Davenport (MI) |
25-2 |
530 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
Northwood (FL) |
31-7 |
513 |
5 |
19 |
11 |
Oklahoma City |
27-7 |
501 |
6 |
36 |
5 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
30-6 |
494 |
7 |
23 |
3 |
Missouri Baptist |
24-4 |
490 |
8 |
11 |
1 |
Oklahoma Baptist |
30-2 |
477 |
9 |
2 |
8 |
The Master's (CA) |
31-7 |
476 |
T10 |
26 |
11 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
27-7 |
393 |
T10 |
14 |
13 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
25-8 |
393 |
12 |
10 |
12 |
Westmont (CA) |
28-8 |
387 |
13 |
1 |
14 |
Lewis-Clark State (ID) |
23-7 |
359 |
14 |
9 |
15 |
Bellevue (NE) |
26-7 |
327 |
15 |
16 |
16 |
Auburn Montgomery (AL) |
26-10 |
310 |
T16 |
3 |
17 |
Concordia (CA) |
30-9 |
300 |
T16 |
49 |
8 |
LSU Shreveport (LA) |
23-8 |
300 |
18 |
7 |
19 |
Campbellsville (KY) |
17-4 |
286 |
19 |
15 |
18 |
Embry-Riddle (FL) |
24-13 |
263 |
20 |
25 |
20 |
St. Thomas (FL) |
25-10 |
214 |
21 |
35 |
23 |
Point Park (PA) |
20-5 |
200 |
22 |
38 |
22 |
Mobile (AL) |
25-10 |
187 |
23 |
22 |
25 |
Northwestern Ohio |
22-6 |
174 |
24 |
37 |
21 |
Sterling (KS) |
25-10 |
133 |
25 |
55 |
24 |
Union (KY) |
21-7 |
94 |
|
4 |
|
British Columbia |
19-8 |
|
|
13 |
|
Concordia-Portland (OR) |
15-17 |
|
|
17 |
|
Vanguard (CA) |
28-12 |
|
|
18 |
|
Bryan (TN) |
30-9 |
|
|
20 |
|
Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH) |
12-6 |
|
|
21 |
|
Lindsey Wilson (KY) |
24-12 |
|
|
24 |
|
York (NE) |
22-13 |
|
First place votes: Faulkner 19, Tabor 1, Davenport 1
Concordia-Portland (ISR #13) is #1 in strength of schedule.
#1 Faulkner got a non-conference win against #6 Georgia Gwinnett, 10-0, and won two of three against Martin Methodist, 5-3, 3-4, and 8-2. Five Eagles pitchers combined for the shutout against Georgia Gwinnett. Starter Christian Torres of Canovanas, Puerto Rico was the most effective one; two hits and five strikeouts in three innings pitched. C Robert Liera went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI. Story DH Randy Joung hit an RBI single for the winning run in the first game against Martin Methodist. Starter Victor Arche went seven innings, allowed six hits, struck out five. The RedHawks scored all four of their runs in the second game in the bottom of the third inning, and the winning run came on an RBI single by LF Austin Schubert. Starter Blake Beavers got the win for the RedHawks, went 5 2/3 innings, allowed two earned runs on seven hits, struck out eight. Starter Jack Charleston got the win in the third game; he went 7 2/3 innings, allowed four hits, and had a shutout going into the eighth inning. LF Junior Santos went 4-for-five, batted in three runs, including the winning run. Story
#15 Auburn-Montgomery leads the Southern States Athletic Conference with a 17-1 conference record. The Eagles are three games back with a 14-4 record. The Eagles host Bethel April 3-4.
#2 Tabor swept four games against Friends, 5-1, 4-1, 7-2, and 3-1. Dustin Hurlbutt got the win in the first game, pitched six innings, allowed four hits, struck out 11. Jean Acevedo went the seven-inning distance in the second game, allowed zero earned runs, struck out eight, didn't walk a batter. CF Jerrik Sigg hit a two-run home run in the third game. LF Brent McClure went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the fourth game. Russell Longworth pitched a seven-inning complete game, allowed five hits, struck out six. Story
The Bluejays lead the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference with an 11-1 record. They host #21 Sterling April 2, and visit Sterling April 4.
#3 and ISR #1 Davenport swept three games against Lourdes, 5-1, 12-2, and 16-3; a scheduled fourth game was canceled due to inclement weather. 1B Brendan Bender hit a home run in the second game. Anthony Alarcon got the win; he pitched five innings, allowed six hits and no earned runs. Story 2B Jordan Zylstra went 3-for-4 with a triple and five RBI in the third game, which was stopped by the mercy rule after seven innings. 1B Matt Priebe hit a two-run home run. Story
Reliever Jonathan Cheshire has an ERA of 0.33, third-best in the NAIA. Priebe leads the NAIA in hitting with a .489 average. The Panthers have a ½ game lead over #23 Northwestern Ohio in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. The Panthers visit Purdue-North Central April 1, and Marygrove April 3-4.
#4 Northwood swept a double-header against Edward Waters, 2-1 and 11-6. Keivan Berges got the win in the first game, also batted in three runs. 3B Luis Roman went 2-for-3 in the second game, and his RBI triple scored the winning run. Steven Bruce and two relievers held the Tigers to three hits. Story
Berges has 54 RBI, second-best in the NAIA. He has ten home runs, tied for fourth in the NAIA. (Seth Brown of Lewis-Clark State leads the NAIA with 12.) The Seahawks lead The Sun Conference with a 16-2 record. They host Florida Memorial April 3-4 (video).
#5 Oklahoma City pushed #8 Oklahoma Baptist out of the #1 spot by winning two of three against the Bison, 4-5, 12-2, and 8-7. The Bison won the first game with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, capped by a two-RBI double by 2B Yariel Gonzalez. Les Northcutt got the win in relief by throwing 16 pitches. Story The Bison's 30-game winning streak came to an end in a game mercy-ruled after eight innings. (The Bison had a 46-game streak of regular season wins over two seasons.) CF Reggie Wilson and 1B J.J. Bissell hit home runs, and Dustin Cook went the distance for the Stars. Cook allowed six hits, struck out five. Story Bissell hit an RBI single for the winning run in the top of the ninth of the third game. The Bison made it a one-run game with a two-RBI single by C Garett Gallacher in the bottom of the ninth, but reliever Miguel Gonzalez got a strikeout and a ground out to end it. Story
Wayland Baptist (ISR #82) leads the Sooner Athletic Conference with an 11-1 record; the Stars are one game behind, and the Bison are 1 ½ games behind. The Stars visit Texas Wesleyan April 3-4 (video). The Bison visit Wayland Baptist April 2-3.
#9 The Master's swept San Diego Christian, 6-1, 11-3, and 5-1. In the first game, Jason Karkenny pitched eight innings, allowed five hits. LF Steve Karkenny hit two solo home runs. Story Ty Galloway got the win in the second game, allowed three hits, struck out ten. Conner Menez went the seven-inning distance in the third game, allowed five hits, struck out eight. SS Jonathan Popadics and LF Steve Karkenny hit solo home runs. Story
Jason Karkenny is 7-3, 2.09 ERA, and 46 strikeouts. Galloway is 8-2, 3.84 ERA, and 47 strikeouts; his eight wins puts him in a tie for third in wins in the NAIA. Steve Karkenny's 11 home runs put him in a tie for second in the NAIA. The Mustangs continue to hold a 1 ½ game lead over Westmont in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Mustangs host Arizona Christian April 1-2 (video).
#13 and ISR #1 Lewis-Clark State swept four games against Menlo, 18-9, 8-0, 12-2, and 5-0. DH Ty Jackson and SS Cabe Reiten both hit grand slam home runs in the fifth inning of the first game. Story Jackson got the win in the second game, pitched six innings, allowed three hits, struck out six. Cameron Pongs completed the shutout, allowed one hit in three innings. Jackson also went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI at the plate. Jackson continued his offensive barrage with a three-run home run in the third game, which was mercy-ruled after seven innings. Story Nick Sagendorf combined with three relievers for the shutout in the fourth game. He went five innings, allowed three hits, struck out eight. The Oaks actually out-hit the Warriors 6-4, but the Warriors got four unearned runs. Story
The Warriors are tied with British Columbia (ISR #4) for the lead in NAIA West, both with 10-2 conference records. They visit Division II Northwest Nazarene April 1 and C. of Idaho April 2-3 (audio), then host C. of Idaho April 4-5 (video).