For the second straight weekend, a Wayland Baptist baseball series is being delayed by weather concerns in Oklahoma City.
The Pioneers' series at Mid-America Christian has been moved to a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Saturday and a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
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Rain storms are in the forecast in Oklahoma City on Friday.
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The games with MACU mark the end of the regular-season for Wayland (38-14, 13-8 SAC), ranked the equivalent of 32
nd in the NAIA and tied for fourth with Oklahoma City (32-17, 13-8) in the SAC standings, although the Pioneers own the tie-breaker with the Stars based claiming Wayland's second-ever series win over OCU last weekend. Wayland is slotted behind three teams tied for first in No. 17 Science and Arts of Oklahoma (38-11, 16-5) No. 22 Texas Wesleyan (34-15, 16-5), and No. 25 Southwestern Christian (39-7, 16-5). MACU (19-27, 7-14) is tied for sixth with St. Gregory's.
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OCU hosts the SAC Tournament May 6-9. The winner automatically qualifies as one of 45 teams for the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, while non-automatic qualifiers must gain entry with an at-large bid.
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The opening round will be held May 17-20 and feature nine, five-team, double-elimination tournaments. Host sites are Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), Davenport (Mich.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, Jamestown (N.D.), Kingsport (Tenn.) Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Tabor (Kan.), USC Beaufort (S.C.), and Westmont (Calif.).
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The nine opening round champions and World Series host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) make up the field at the 2016 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. The event, which is taking place at Harris Field for the 17
th consecutive season and 25th time overall, is scheduled to run from May 27-June 3.
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2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 7 (April 26)
| RANK |
PRVS^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Georgia Gwinnett (18) |
47-4 |
498 |
| 2 |
2 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
39-7 |
477 |
| 3 |
3 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
41-11 |
460 |
| 4 |
4 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
40-7 |
451 |
| 5 |
6 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
36-10 |
437 |
| 6 |
7 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
39-7 |
424 |
| 7 |
8 |
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
38-13 |
388 |
| 8 |
5 |
USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
37-9 |
385 |
| 9 |
11 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
38-13 |
366 |
| 10 |
10 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
44-5 |
353 |
| 11 |
12 |
Missouri Baptist |
36-11 |
339 |
| 12 |
17 |
Sterling (Kan.) |
40-11 |
316 |
| 13 |
9 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
35-12-1 |
308 |
| 14 |
13 |
Middle Georgia State |
38-13 |
288 |
| 15 |
19 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
34-10 |
275 |
| 16 |
14 |
York (Neb.) |
37-13 |
241 |
| 17 |
22 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
38-10 |
238 |
| 18 |
15 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
35-14 |
221 |
| 19 |
21 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
34-15 |
192 |
| 20 |
16 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
31-15 |
189 |
| 21 |
18 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
33-15 |
173 |
| 22 |
20 |
Texas Wesleyan |
33-15 |
166 |
| 23 |
25 |
IU Southeast (Ind.) |
30-11 |
142 |
| 24 |
RV |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
31-17 |
122 |
| 25 |
RV |
Southwestern Christian (Okla.) |
39-7 |
96 |
Dropped from Top 25: Keiser (Fla.) (No. 23); Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (No. 24)Â
Others receiving votes:Â The Master's (Calif.) 70; Midland (Neb.) 40; Keiser (Fla.) 39; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 36; Taylor (Ind.) 33; Madonna (Mich.) 29; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 22; Oklahoma Wesleyan 18; Central Baptist (Ark.) 14; Oklahoma City 8; British Columbia 7; Webber International (Fla.) 7; LSU Alexandria (La.) 6; Avila (Mo.) 3; WVU Tech (W.Va.) 3.Â
^From the 2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 6 (April 19)
