BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Cumberlands (Ky.) climbed four spots into the top five in the final NAIA Baseball Top-25 Poll, NAIA officials announced on Wednesday.

The Patriots (41-8) moved from No. 9 to No. 5 in this week's poll after receiving 322 voting points from the national raters. Cumberlands enters postseason play as the Mid-South Conference Tournament's top seed after claiming the MSC regular-season title.

Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) is one of 13 teams outside the Top 25 but receiving voting points from the national raters. The Lions (32-15) garnered 11 voting points. Freed-Hardeman is the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament next week in Bowling Green.

Taylor (Ind.) remains at No. 1 with 382 voting points and seven of the 14 first-place votes. Bellevue (Neb.) moved up to No. 2 with 378 voting points and six first-place votes, while Georgia Gwinnett slipped to No. 3 with 368 voting points and the final first-place vote.

 

Poll Methodology

• The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
• A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
• The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system: 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
• The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
• Teams receiving only one point are not listed as “receiving votes.”
• For the Preseason Poll, there is no "previous ranking" column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system.