With files from NAIA
KANSA CITY, MO - Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) has now reigned as the No. 1 team for the entire regular season, the NAIA announced Tuesday in the final Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Lewis-Clark State has been the top-ranked program in all seven regular season polls and the unanimous selection in each of the last five. Earning an automatic host berth to the Avista-NAIA World Series, the Warriors are 47-3 on the year.
Moving up one spot to no. 7, NAIA West champion UBC Thunderbirds (39-11) remain firmly entrenched among the top 10. The T-Birds hit a program high no. 3 ranking earlier this season and showed their form last weekend with a 3-0 performance at the NAIA West National Qualifying Tournament at Nat Bailey Stadium en route to their second consecutive league title.
With that win, UBC clinched a spot for the second straight year in the National Championship Opening Round. Now they must wait to see where they are slotted in the 46-team field for that event.
The official announcement of the participating teams is scheduled for Thursday. In addition, the official list of nine National Championship Opening Round hosts will be announced on Thursday. The official announcement of the National Championship Opening Round bracket will be made on Friday by 5 p.m. CDT.
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