KANSAS CITY, Mo. – National champion Southeastern (Fla.) ends the 2018 season with the No. 1 ranking in the 2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll. The Fire collected all 15 first-place votes and 405 total points.
Top 25 Highlights (information dates back to 2000):
• The No. 1 ranking is the first in program history for Southeastern. The Fire had previously been ranked no higher than No. 3.
• Southeastern closed the season on an eight-game winning streak, including a 6-3 victory over No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in the 2018 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series title game.
• The Fire (59-7)
• Rounding out the top five are Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett, No. 4 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and No. 5 Faulkner (Ala.).
• There are three newcomers to the Top 25 – No. 9 University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH), No. 10 Reinhardt (Ga.) and No. 23 Indiana Tech. Both UNOH and Reinhardt won opening round titles and made appearances in the World Series.
• Lewis-Clark State leads all active members with 60 total No. 1 mentions since 2000. Ten other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (34), Faulkner (18), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Georgia Gwinnett (8), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (Tenn.) (6) and Tennessee Wesleyan (2).
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Postseason Poll (June 6, 2018)
| RANK | PRVS* | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 4 | Southeastern (Fla.) (15) | 59-7 | 405 |
| 2 | 24 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 47-16 | 392 |
| 3 | 2 | Georgia Gwinnett | 50-12 | 375 |
| 4 | 6 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 40-13 | 365 |
| 5 | 1 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 54-9 | 352 |
| 6 | 17 | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 46-14-1 | 334 |
| 7 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 51-10 | 328 |
| 8 | 3 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 56-9 | 318 |
| 9 | NR | University of Northwestern Ohio | 43-20 | 307 |
| 10 | RV | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 41-20 | 289 |
| 11 | 7 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 53-8 | 268 |
| 12 | 10 | William Jessup (Calif.) | 41-17 | 247 |
| 13 | 8 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 46-8 | 240 |
| 14 | 9 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 41-17 | 234 |
| 15 | 16 | Point Park (Pa.) | 47-9 | 227 |
| 16 | 11 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 47-11 | 205 |
| 17 | 19 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 39-21 | 172 |
| 18 | 12 | Middle Georgia State | 45-18 | 167 |
| 19 | 15 | Keiser (Fla.) | 38-19 | 166 |
| 20 | 21 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 44-19 | 152 |
| 21 | 18 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 45-11 | 131 |
| 22 | 14 | Mobile (Ala.) | 42-17 | 126 |
| 23 | RV | Indiana Tech | 44-21 | 117 |
| 24 | 22 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 41-16 | 98 |
| 25 | 13 | Lyon (Ark.) | 37-17 | 95 |
Dropped from the Top 25 Poll: Westmont (Calif.) (No. 20); Texas Wesleyan (No. 23); LSU Shreveport (La.) (No. 25)
Others receiving votes: IU Southeast (Ind.) 77; Bellevue (Neb.) 57; Westmont (Calif.) 54; LSU Shreveport (La.) 52; Webber International (Fla.) 40; William Carey (Miss.) 31; Point (Ga.) 29; Texas Wesleyan 12; Judson (Ill.) 8; Clarke (Iowa) 6; Cumberland (Tenn.) 5.
*Ranking from 2018 Poll Final (May 1, 2018)
