The 2009 Wayland baseball team fell just one game short of reaching the NAIA World Series for the first time in school history, losing out to eventual national champion Lubbock Christian University in the final game of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Field 1 Tournament. That success has paid off as the Pioneers garnered 341 votes and are ranked in a tie for 14th in the 2010 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll released Tuesday afternoon.

WBU coach Brad Bass lost just one starting pitcher and four starting position players off that 2009 squad.  Among the returnees are starting pitchers Todd Weldon, Marcus Limon and Trevor Stringer.  Weldon was a 2nd team All-Sooner Atheltic Conference pitcher who won 11 games and set a new school record with 120 strikeouts last spring for the Pioneers.  Limon led the NAIA in strikeouts per nine innings in 2009, and Stringer finished the season with a 9-1 record.

LCU claimed the number one spot in the preseason poll with 23 first place votes.  National runner-up Point Loma Nazarene captured the number two ranking, followed by Oklahoma City at number three

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the 25 conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups. The first regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on March 30.