[April 22, 2008]

Collegiate Baseball poll.pdf
Ping! poll.pdf
NCBWA poll.pdf

By: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Despite a 3-2 record over the past week, Southern Arkansas slipped just one spot in this week’s Collegiate Baseball coaches’ poll, to a tie at third with Tampa (Fla.). The Muleriders fell two positions to fourth in the Ping poll and are also ranked third by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association (NCBWA).

SAU (39-6) and the Spartans (34-7-1) each received 432 votes from the coaches for their tie. Tampa, the defending NCAA Division II World Series champions, also won the crown in 2006. Mount Olive (N.C.) (44-5) received 476 points to hold down the top spot for the third consecutive week and eight of the past nine, with Southern Arkansas’ lone week at No. 1 breaking that span. Emporia State (Kan.) (42-3), winners of an impressive 35 consecutive games, moves up to second with 468 points, and Gulf South Conference West Division foe Delta State (Miss.) (37-8) jumps one spot to round out the top five.

GSC East member Valdosta State (Ga.) (32-15) improves three places to 15th, while West Alabama climbs two spaces to 17th. West rival Ouachita Baptist (38-12), who the Muleriders took two of three games from this weekend, fall one spot to 25th. East member Montevallo (Ala.) garnered one vote in the poll.

Mount Olive and Emporia State are also 1-2 in both the Ping and NCBWA polls. Delta State moved ahead of SAU to third in the Ping poll, while Tampa is fifth. West Alabama holds steady at ninth, Ouachita Baptist falls to 18th, and Valdosta State is 30th.

The NCBWA places Tampa behind Southern Arkansas in fourth, while Sonoma State (Calif.) (37-7) is fifth. Delta State is sixth and West Alabama 15th, with OBU dropping out of their top 25.

The Muleriders remained first in the NCBWA’s South Central Region rankings, receiving five first-place votes, while Delta State, in second, received the other.

The NCAA South Central Region poll, which is the one that counts for regional tournament play, had SAU on top in their first rankings last week. The second poll will be released Wednesday or Thursday.