KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After coming out on top at the NAIA National Championship Opening Round site at Daytona Beach, Fla., and advancing to the World Series, the Southern Polytechnic State University baseball team finished the season ranked No. 8 nationally after receiving 439 points in the 2014 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll that was released on Wednesday.

Southern Polytechnic earned 413 points for ninth place in the previous NAIA national coaches' poll, which came out on May 9. Southern Poly got 326 points for No. 14 on April 29 after collecting 306 points for 15th on April 22. The Hornets were ranked No. 17 with 255 points the week before and were 30th with 46 points on April 8. SPSU came in at No. 31 (35 points) on April 1, 30th (68) on March 25 and was also No. 17 (225) in the preseason rating that was announced on Nov. 12, 2013.

The NAIA coaches' polls are voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the NAIA conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups. The entire poll can be viewed naia.org.

National champion Cumberland University from Tennessee soared to the top spot in the latest poll with 560 points and 20 first-place votes after ending with a 49-20 overall record. Lewis-Clark State College, the national runner-up the past two years, is second after picking up 542 points and finishing 47-9 overall, and is followed by Oklahoma Wesleyan University (523 points, 58-8 overall), Oklahoma Baptist University (507, 55-7) and Faulkner University (480, 50-16).

Along with Southern Poly and Faulkner, other Southern States Athletic Conference teams in the final rating are No. 18 Belhaven University (249 points, 42-21 overall) and No. 23 Brewton-Parker College (147, 32-13).

The Hornets concluded their last season ever with a 46-19 overall mark. SPSU was an automatic qualifier to the NAIA World Series, where it posted a 1-2 record, after capturing the SSAC Tournament title.