Viking Baseball Ranked Fourth in NSAA Coaches Poll

Valley City State University baseball ranks fourth in the 2025 NSAA Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Poll. The Vikings totaled 16 points in the vote announced on Tuesday Jan. 21.

Viking Baseball kicks of their 2025 spring season on Feb. 8 against Graceland University. In March the team is headed to Florida for the RussMatt Invitational where they will play 15 games against 10 different opponents. The first conference game and home opener will be in Valley City against #15 Bellevue on March 28. The NSAA postseason tournament is slated for May 2-5 in Dickinson, N.D.

Bellevue (Neb.) was the unanimous coaches’ pick to win the 2025 North Star Athletic Association baseball regular season title, the conference preseason poll was announced Tuesday by the conference office.  The Bruins are vying for their tenth consecutive NSAA regular-season title.

Bellevue finished their 2024 season with an overall record of 39-14 and 21-2 record in the league.  The Bruins also cruised in the conference postseason tournament, winning the title and advancing to the NAIA Baseball Opening Round. 

BU claimed all six first place votes with 36 points in the conference preseason poll.  Bellevue is ranked No. 15 in the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Poll, which was announced last November.  BU’s Steven Elsner has been named a Preseason All-America by the NAIA Baseball Coaches Association All-America Committee on Jan. 15.

Dakota State was picked to finish second in the poll after collecting 29 points.  Jamestown (N.D.) placed third with 25 points.  Valley City State (N.D.) edged out Mayville State (N.D.) by two points (16-14) to place fourth.  Dickinson State (N.D.) was sixth in the preseason poll with six points.

Points are awarded on a 6-1 basis and coaches can vote for their own team.

The North Star Athletic Association baseball conference season officially kicks off on the weekend of March 28-29 (BU at VCSU, UJ at DaSU, and DiSU at MSU).  Each school is slated to play a total of 20 North Star conference baseball games.  All six league teams, along with two teams from the Cal-Pac Conference, will compete in the North Star Baseball Conference Postseason Tournament, which is scheduled for May 2-5 in Dickinson, N.D.

There will be two automatic bids from the North Star Athletic Association for the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round, which is held on May 12-15.  The first automatic bid will go to the NSAA conference regular-season title winner.  The second automatic bid will be awarded to the postseason tournament winner.

If the regular-season title and postseason tournament champion is the same team, then the NSAA postseason tournament runner-up will receive the second automatic bid. 
The Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series is slated to be played in Lewiston, Idaho from May 23-30.

Below is the complete 2025 NSAA Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Poll: