Wow. We are just a month away from conference tournament action. Unbelievable to think that January 31st was over two months ago! The Top 25 this week was BONKERS, going into Sunday, the Top 25 had a 53-34 record, the lowest this season. Regional Rankings are right around the corner, and we're excited to present you all the metrics that go into the rankings and give our insight.
Until then, look for us weekly to give our thoughts for our respective regions. Will has you covered on the Midwest, South Central, East, and Atlantic Regions. I have you covered on the Central, South, Southeast, and West Regions.
Here we go!
CENTRAL REGION
The Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello took two of three against a ranked Harding squad and now have back-to-back series wins. Maxim Mrakovic lowered his ERA to a solid 2.85 figure after throwing a complete game, allowing just one run in the Game 2of the series win. Camden Tanner, Chaz Poppy, and Kirk Woolf are all doing their thing, hitting above .320, but I have to talk about Justin Santoyo's .386 average with a team-leading 1.111 OPS. He's been a key cog for this team who is starting to play like the team we believed they were in the beginning of the year.
Don't sleep on Southern Arkansas. They picked up a road series win against Henderson State and could launch themselves into first with a solid weekend against Harding this upcoming weekend. Jeremy Adorno (Sr.) is certainly pitching like his freshman self (15-0, 2.83 ERA) as of late with a 9 K start over 7 innings over the weekend. He continues this trend, the Muleriders will be a challenge whomever they play.
Another unbeaten week for Minnesota State, as they traveled to St. Cloud State and won all 4 games. The Mavericks have jumped to No.6 in our polls with their impressive 21-2 record. Nathan Culley gave up one run and struck out 10 in his complete game win. Culley currently ranks 10th in Division 2 with a 34.2% strikeout rate on the mound. Louis Magers, son of head coach Matt Magers, continues to shine on both sides of the ball. Magers has a 1.90 ERA (team best) on the mound over 23.2 IP and is hitting .333 with 8 home runs and 32 RBI (tied for team lead in homers and lead in RBI).
Southwest Minnesota State continues to show promise this season. The Mustangs swept Minot State over the weekend and nearly completed an upset against D1 South Dakota State. Levi Lampert had a weekend. He homered in all four games against Minot State, going 11-for-18 with 3 2B, 4 HR, and 7 RBI. He has won back-to-back NSIC Player of the Week honors and is hitting a robust .444 and leads the NSIC with an .852 slugging percentage.
In one of our series to watch picks from the weekend, Central Missouri bested Fort Hays State in two of three games. Central Missouri moves up to No.3 while Fort Hays remains at No.25 and Fort Hays hands on to the top spot in the MIAA with their one win against UCM. Despite early season struggles, Jacob Steele has found his groove at the plate. Now hitting .422 (best in the MIAA), Steele had multiple 3-hit games against Fort Hays State.
RV Central Oklahoma improves to 24-8 and have won eight straight MIAA games dating back to March 18th, with seven of those being home. Given the rest of the Bronchos schedule, there's reason to believe UCO could be at the top by regular season's end. Caden Robertson with his 15 doubles and 18 home runs leads the MIAA with a 1.00 slugging percentage. Yes, 1.000. He just had a 20-game hit streak snapped but was 9-for-17 with 3 homers and 16 RBI on the week, earning him MIAA Player of the Week honors.
RV Pittsburg State is another team to keep an eye on, now at 22-7 and winners of four straight. It all starts with RHP Kolby Dougan, who struck out 11 over 8 shutout innings in their 8-0 win Friday. Dougan leads the country with a quite impressive 43.4% strikeout rate over 52 innings.
SOUTH REGION
No.14 Delta State is starting to put some distance in the GSC standings after a sweep of Alabama Huntsville. Logan Eldridge threw his second straight complete game to complete the sweep, striking out eight. Brett Burrell extended his hit streak to five games and is hitting .425. If you really think about it, given the rest of their schedule, there could be an opportunity for the Statesmen to host a regional should they continue to play well.
Valdosta State has been interesting to say the least in Gulf South play. The Blazers started 8-1 to begin conference play, then went 2-4 before getting back to winning, sweeping a Mississippi College team who we thought should get some Top 25 votes had they delivered this past weekend. Fun fact, Valdosta State pitcher Zac Dodson has thrown exactly six innings in six straight starts. He carries a 3.89 ERA over 53.2 innings. Ryan Brown out of the bullpen has no allowed a run in his last 5 appearances. Brown has a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings. The Blazers have a BIG week this week, taking on No.2 Tampa in a midweek contest and taking on an Auburn Montgomery team who took two of three this past weekend against West Florida.
With a month left to go in conference play before the conference tournament, it seems it will be one of Spring Hill, Savannah State, and Edward Waters to be the No.1 Seed. Traditionally, the SIAC has been a one-bid league, but could we see two bids this year? It would be reliant on Spring Hill playing incredibly well but NOT winning the SIAC. I'm sure the Badgers wouldn't want to leave that up to chance.
On the topic of Spring Hill, a record of 24-9 and 18-2 in conference play is quite impressive. Jackson Bell's late season run a year ago was no fluke. He's on a 12-game hit streak and is hitting .418. Korey Bunselmeyer is 7-1 with a 2.81 ERA over 51.1 innings. The Badgers play West Florida in the midweek, a team they beat back on Feb. 18. before playing LeMoyne-Owen over the weekend.
In yet another historic series, Florida Southern bested Tampa two out of three games at Historic Henley Field over the weekend. Florida Southern jumps up to No.4 in our rankings. Both of these programs are vigorously on the quest for National Championship No.10 (Both have 9). It was a fantastic series to watch and Mocs Head Coach Rick O'Dette got career win No.700. Either way, it seems as if both of these teams are strongly competing for a No.1 seed in the South Region. It would not surprise me at all to see these teams line up again in the Supers. If so,I think whoever gets the No.1 seed (home field advantage) goes to Cary.
How about Florida Tech? In a rare Friday doubleheader, the Panthers beat a then-ranked Rollins in both games via a walk off (See post below for video). Florida Tech won the series and currently sit 5th in the standings.
SOUTHEAST REGION
One may be confused as to why the Conference Carolinas standings are seed by this KPI metric and not traditional standings. Well, with the addition of Shorter this year, not every team will play everybody in conference. That's why the conference developed a KPI seeding (first year in baseball, 2nd in other sports) to combat that. Want to learn more? Watch our episode with Conference Carolinas Commissioner Chris Colvin on what KPI is and why they used it.
The biggest beneficiary so far has been Young Harris, who moves up to No.12 in our rankings. After taking a series against North Greenville, the Mountain Lions continued their ranked stretch of wins and swept a then-ranked Mount Olive team. What a weekend it was for Jeremy Begora. The 6-foot-8 first baseman 7-for-12 with 5 home runs and 12 RBI. Begora homered in every game and had two home runs in two of the three games. He now is hitting .330 with 13 home runs and 37 RBI.
Another beneficiary is the team 2nd in the KPI standings, Francis Marion. They entered our rankings at 21 this week with a record of 26-9. The Patriots are winners of 7 in a row after a road sweep of Shorter. What's been impressive with this team is that they have some solid road series wins. Earlier in the season, Francis Marion beat a RV Belmont Abbey squad in two of three games. More impressively, the Patriots beat Young Harris on the road in two of three games, a team that we now have ranked at 12th.
No.17 North Georgia has to be feeling elated with the 4-0 week they had. First they beat a ranked Catawba on the road then beat Augusta by scoring 55 runs in the 3 game set. That put them in our rankings. Now 13-2 and tied for first in the Peach Belt, the Nighthawks from our end is just now hitting their top form. Look out for this team that's hitting .320 with a staff that is 18-1 combined from their four most used pitchers.
Georgia College has now won five straight PBC series after a sweep of Claflin. The Bobcats sit tied with North Georgia in the Peach Belt standings at 13-2. This is another team that is starting to hit their stride, as they are hitting .311 as a whole. Also, the performances of Mason Brown (6-0, 2.36 ERA in 45.2 IP) and Bradley Wilson (6-1, 2.48 ERA in 54.2 IP) have made this team that more dangerous on the mound, especially when John Luke Glanton gets back to his dominant self as well.
Let's not forget a 12-3 in conference play RV Lander team. They went on the road and swept USC Aiken this past weekend.
How about a Georgia Southwestern team, winners of six in a row after a sweep of RV Flagler? The Canes have catapulted to fourth in the Peach Belt standings and there's still a lot of time left for GSW to make a run to improve that standing.
Not everyday you see a team win a series against the No.3 ranked team but Lincoln Memorial did exactly that, winning both games of the doubleheader on Saturday to win the series. It took a walk-off HR from Kevin Fernandez in G1 to win then a baker's dozen offensive output to win G2. While there were many stars in the series, how about the catcher position over the weekend for Lincoln Memorial? Sam Mast went 4-for-9 in the first two games, having two hits in each of those games. Then, Joey LaMattina played the final game of the series and 2-for-4 with a homer and 4 RBI. With that series win, Lincoln Memorial has played their way into the 7 seed for the conference (8 teams get in) with a month left to go.
The next three conference weeks are going to be a gauntlet for Carson-Newman, Catawba, and Lenoir-Rhyne. No.19 Carson-Newman has to take on Coker on the road, No.5 Lenoir-Rhyne at home, and No.13 Catawba on the road. No. 13 Catawba host Tusculum, travels to Wingate, and host No.19 Carson-Newman with midweeks against No.5 Lenoir-Rhyne and UNC Pembroke. No.5 Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Mars Hill, goes to No.19 Carson-Newman, and hosts Tusculum with midweeks against No.13 Catawba and RV Barton in-between.
WEST REGION
How about a Cal State Monterey Bay team that took three of four against a then RV Cal State San Bernardino team? The Otters battled all series long and came out on top with an 8-run 11th inning in the final game of the series. That inning was capped off by Jaden Shepphard's team-leading 9th home run of the season. Someone who was on base in that inning was KW Quilici, who is hitting .400 and carries a 15-game hitting streak.
Cal State Los Angeles won their third straight weekend series with the latest being catapulted from a game-winning two-run home run from Isaiah Marquez. Their remaining schedule will be tough, as they face the No.1, No.3, No.4, and No.6 teams in the standings.
Cal State Dominguez Hills also faces a tough schedule in the No.2,No.3,No.4, and No.6 team in the standings, but they did win 3 of 4 this past weekend against Cal State East Bay. Justin Abercrombie and Darren Roberts have been excellent on the mound. Abercrombie carries a 2.11 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP over (7-1 record). Roberts has a 2.93 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP over 43 innings (4-0).
Montana State Billings has ripped off seven straight after a weekend sweep of Central Washington to take the lead in conference play. Jackson Betancourt has pitched 3 straight quality starts with his last being his best. Betancourt went the distance, allowing just one run to go with nine strikeouts. Offensively, Ryker Fortier (.390 average) and Ryan Jeffery (.383) have been on a tear, both with 14-game hit streaks. The Jackets will face their biggest conference foe in two weeks against Northwest Nazarene.
Western Oregon got back in the W column with a weekend sweep of St. Martin's. Devin Bell struck out 9 in his start and is 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA.
What a pleasant surprise it was from Jessup, who nearly swept the No.2 Westmont Warriors in four games this past weekend. It was quite an exciting series, as all four games were decided by one run. Games two and three were won by walk-offs, the first coming from Cody Antone and the second coming from Dominic Ott. It's a shame that Jessup will not be able to participate in the NCAA postseason due to their transition from the NAIA.
Hawaii Pacific are winners of 5 in a row after a sweep of Menlo. The Sharks will be taking on D1 Hawaii on Tuesday, April 1.
Fresno Pacific traveled to a ranked Point Loma and was able to earn a series split. The Sunbrids won games by the scores of 6-4 and 7-5.
Thank you for reading.