June 11, 2011

Patriots earn Top 10 ranking in final baseball poll

On the heels of a season that saw the Francis Marion University baseball team equal the school record for wins and capture the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship, the Patriots are ranked ninth in the final 2011 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II Top 30 poll, released this week.

FMU has appeared in the end-of-the-season national poll at the conclusion of each of the past seven seasons, and eight of the past nine.  The final Top 10 ranking is the third ever for the Patriots and second in a row.  FMU finished 10th in 2010 and sixth in 2006.

Francis Marion ended the 2011 campaign with a 41-16 record and received its third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, reaching the regional title game for the second year in a row.

This week’s national ranking means the Patriots have appeared in 109 of the past 117 national polls dating back to the 2005 season. Francis Marion was ranked 15th in the 2011 pre-season poll, dropped out of the first two rankings, but returned to the poll and was listed 24th, 17th, 13th, 24th, 16th, 16th, 15th, 12th, sixth, eighth, and ninth for four weeks.

The Division II national champions, University of West Florida (52-9), sit atop the poll, which features five Peach Belt squads.

 

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
Final 2011 Top 30 NCAA Division II poll
Monday (June 6, 2011)
 
No.         Team                                  Record                  Points   Previous
1.            West Florida                       52-9                       480         4
2.            Mount Olive                       47-10                     458         2
3.            Winona St.                         42-18                     448         16
4.            Southern Conn. St.            45-9-1                   426         10
5.            Grand Valley St.                 52-5                       408         1
6.            Millersville                          45-12                     402         6
7.             Central Missouri                49-10                     394         3
8.             St. Mary's (Tex.)               47-10                     360         5
9.            Francis Marion                   41-16                     348         7
10.          Barry                                 40-17                     334         8
11.          Sonoma St.                       37-22                     328         11
12.          N.C. Pembroke                  44-12                     318         8
13.          U.C. San Diego                  42-15                     286         12
14.          Emporia St.                       43-12                     274         13
15.          Catawba                            41-15                     256         14
16.          Nova S.E.                          35-18                     240         15
17.          St. Cloud St.                      43-11                     220         18
18.          Columbus St.                    32-19                     204         17
19.          Mercyhurst                       41-12                     194         19
20.          North Alabama                  37-14                     178         20
21.          Georgia College                 35-17                     156         21
22.          Tampa                             36-17                     140         22
23.          Armstrong Atlantic St.     35-17                     124         23
24.          Harding                           42-13                     108         24
25.          Adelphi                            36-14-2                 104         25
26.          Franklin Pierce                 40-14                     90           26
27.          Incarnate Word               37-18                     54           27
28.          Cal. Poly Pomona             36-23                     32           28
29.          S.E. Oklahoma St.           35-19                     14           29
30.          Southern Indiana            37-19                     8              30
                Western Oregon             37-15                     8              30
                Southern Arkansas        36-16                     8              30
                Nebraska-Kearney          38-19                     8              30
                Minn. St.-Mankato          40-12                     8              30
                Florida Southern            32-15                     8              RV
 
Also Receiving Votes: Wilmington (6), Tarleton St. (6), Cameron (4), Mass.-Lowell (2), Wayne St., MI (1), Northern Kentucky (1), Nebraska-Omaha (1), Limestone (1), North Georgia (1), Wingate (1), Quincy (1), Missouri Science & Technology (1), Drury (1), Mesa St. (1).