The Division II landscape should be running at full capacity after this weekend, barring weather concerns, as most teams who have not played yet will begin their season on their spring break. The next couple weeks will be spread throughout the country, as many Northern teams will be traveling to the RussMatt Invite in Florida, Clearwater Invite, or out to Arizona to start their season beginning this weekend.
One notable match-up that we will be denied this week is the four-game set between #10 Emporia State and Central Missouri, as that series has been wiped out due to weather.
Here are some of the notable match-ups for this weekend and early next week:
#1 (11-1) Tampa at Philadelphia Phillies (3/1): Obviously, being an exhibition, this game doesn't really matter at all, but I am intrigued to see it as it will kick off the MLB spring training season, and considering the talent Tampa has this season, I wouldn't be too shocked to see Tampa challenge for a win here.
#3 (11-2) Mount Olive at (11-2) Lenoir-Rhyne (3/3, 3/4): Another chance for Lenoir-Rhyne to prove they belong in the top 25 after beginning the season on a hot note. Mount Olive has been hitting their stride as of late, so this should be a good test for L-R to try and pull the split out.
#5 (10-4) Columbus State vs (7-5) West Florida (3/3, 3/4): Columbus State is another team that is starting to hit their stride after a small struggle to begin the year, while West Florida is looking to bounce back from a three-game sweep at the hands of Valdosta State. This will be another good series that would mean a lot for either team if they were to pull of a sweep of the two games.
#9 (0-0) Grand Valley State vs (0-0) Ashland (3/3, 3/4): The rare in-conference, non-conference match-up between a pair of teams that should find themselves in the hunt for the Midwest regional tournament. GVSU has stacked the schedule in Florida for their RussMatt trip, considering this two-game series, which is then followed by a doubleheader with #11 Minnesota State the next day, a doubleheader against Drury on the 7th and an away game at #15 Florida Southern on the 8th. It will be a difficult start to the season for the Lakers with a schedule where they will have to dip deep in to the pitching rotation with 10 games in 8 days.
#16 (11-2) UNC Pembroke vs (2-3) Shippensburg (2/28 (DH), 3/1): UNC-P will be looking to get back to their winning ways following two straight losses to Montevallo last weekend, and they will be doing so against a team that has been to the D-II National Finals within the last two years. Shippensburg started the season with two losses to Belmont Abbey, but took the series closer and then split with Barton. It will be a good opponent for UNC-P to prove that their hot start to the year was not a fluke.
#21 (15-1) Saint Leo vs (4-3) Nebraska-Omaha (2/26): It is only one game, but Saint Leo is going to be looking to keep their momentum going against a solid Division I opponent. A win here could cement Saint Leo's legitimacy for the rest of the year, as if crushing Eckerd 19-4 yesterday didn't already do that.
(13-0) Florida Tech at (8-3) Eckerd (2/27, 2/28 (DH)): Florida Tech, along with Saint Leo, is one of the hottest teams to start the year, and although they have already taken down the likes of USC Aiken and Florida Southern, this will be the Panthers' first chance at dominating a solid opponent in an extended series. At least a series victory here should land Florida Tech in the top 20 next week.
(12-1) Flagler at (8-3) Francis Marion (2/28 (DH), 3/1): Another impressive early-season team in Flagler will get a chance to prove they belong in the rankings as well, taking on an opponent in Francis Marion that could find themselves in the top 25 at some point this year, too.
Enjoy another exciting week in Division II baseball!
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