We are starting to head in to the home stretch of the 2015 regular season in Division II baseball, with two conferences actually hosting their conference tournaments this week (Conference Carolinas and South Atlantic Conference). Additionally, could there be a new #1 team this week? Colorado Mesa and Franklin Pierce thrived, while Nova Southeastern was tagged with a pair of losses. All of that and more inside this past week's recap!
#1 Nova Southeastern (34-9) went 2-2 last week, beginning with a mid-week loss to Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sharks then traveled to Rollins, the last-place team in the SSC and a squad that has won only seven games in conference play over the last two years, and dropped the opening game of the set before sweeping the doubleheader the next day to notch the series victory. NSU will face Palm Beach Atlantic again on Tuesday for a single game before facing Eckerd in a three-game conference series over the weekend.
#2 Colorado Mesa (37-5) rolled over Colorado Christian in RMAC play, sweeping a four-game series and continuing to roll over the conference. They will face a solid test this weekend with a four-game series at Metro State, the third-place team in the conference. With Nova Southeastern's performance last week, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mesa challenge for the top spot in the rankings this week.
#3 Franklin Pierce (34-2) has pushed their winning streak to 15 straight thanks to a win over Saint Anselm and a three-game sweep of Merrimack. The last game of that sweep didn't come without a little bit of a challenge, as the Ravens won 10-8, the eight runs signifying the most they have given up in a single game so far this year. This week, they will face a tough Southern New Hampshire team on Wednesday, take on LIU Post on Thursday and face Assumption for a three-game series this weekend.
#4 Seton Hill (35-7) defeated Point Park in a doubleheader and dropped the opener to Gannon over the weekend, but picked up three straight wins to close the series and hold on to a share of the PSAC lead with #13 Mercyhurst. After a mid-week doubleheader on Tuesday with Alderson Broaddus, the Griffins will face off with previously-mentioned Mercyhurst for four games in one of the biggest series' of the Division II week.
#5 Alabama-Huntsville (35-6-1) have now won nine in a row after a sweeping a three-game series from Union over the weekend. They are another team that will be involved a huge series along the Division II landscape this week. The Chargers will head to #22 West Alabama for a three-game GSC series that will decide the regular season winner for that conference this weekend.
#6 Minnesota State (29-4), the winners of 12 in a row, defeated Upper Iowa in a doubleheader and then dispatched Concordia-St. Paul in a four-game series over the weekend. The Mavericks will face Northern State for a conference doubleheader on Wednesday before traveling to Sioux Falls for a four-game series this weekend.
#7 St. Mary's (30-10) fell in a mid-week game to Angelo State and then lost the series opener to Oklahoma Christian, but took the final two games to win the series. The Rattlers will face Tarleton State in a Tuesday game before welcoming Arkansas-Fort Smith in to town for a three-game series. St. Mary's is tied for the Heartland Conference lead, but UAFS can put a big dent in that with a big performance this weekend.
#8 Mount Olive (35-12) began the week with a doubleheader sweep of a good Wingate team, but fell in the first two games of their conference series against Belmont Abbey. They rebounded for a huge 22-2 win in the closing game of the series, and are the #1 seed for this weekend's Conference Carolina's tournament. Their first game of the tournament will be against North Greenville on Thursday, a team they won two of three against just two weeks ago.
#9 Tampa (30-11) had probably the best performance of any Division II squad over the weekend, sweeping #17 Florida Tech in a three-game series to vault themselves in to second place in the SSC, just two games behind Nova Southeastern. This week, the Spartans will face Embry-Riddle in a mid-week game and then take on a talented Saint Leo squad for three games in an attempt to try and continue their surge back to the top of the conference.
#10 St. Cloud State (35-3) won their only two games last week, a doubleheader over Mary, and will be much busier this week when they take on Bemidji State in a doubleheader on Wednesday and Minot State for a four-game series this weekend.
#11 Columbus State (32-12) swept Albany State in a doubleheader and then split a doubleheader with Georgia Regents over the weekend. They will be heading in to their last week of regular season play with a Wednesday tilt against Valdosta State before heading to Armstrong State for a three-game series with a chance to move up in the PBC standings. CSU is currently sixth in the conference, while Armstrong is second.
#12 Cal Poly Pomona (31-11) had a huge weekend, sweeping Cal State-Los Angeles in four games. CS-LA was competing for a conference title before the weekend, and they are now five games out with eight to play. CPP put their stamp on the season with that series, and will now attempt to hold off #19 UC San Diego for the next two weeks. This week, the Broncos will welcome in to town Cal State-Stanislaus for four games.
#13 Mercyhurst (30-4) split a four-game series with Indiana (Pa.) over the weekend and are currently tied for the PSAC lead with #4 Seton Hill, setting up a pretty important four-game conference set this weekend with the Griffins. Before that, the Lakers will take on Walsh in a Tuesday doubleheader.
#14 Lynn (30-11) won a single contest over Ave Maria last week and then split a non-conference doubleheader with Palm Beach Atlantic, a team that just seems to be giving all sorts of SSC teams fits. Lynn is only three games out in the SSC race, but they have a favorable schedule this weekend as they welcome in to town last-place Rollins for three games.
#15 St. Edward's (31-10) swept three games from Oklahoma Panhandle State in dominating fashion, outscoring their opponents 29-2 over the weekend. Currently tied with #7 St. Mary's for the Heartland Conference lead, they will take on Texas A&M-International in a three-game series this weekend. On Tuesday, however, is a great non-conference tilt with Texas A&M-Kingsville.
#16 Emporia State (30-11) picked up a single game win over Washburn and then took three of four at Fort Hays State to stay in the thick of the MIAA race. They are 4.5 games out with only four to play, but they are virtually tied with Central Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney in a race for second in the conference. This week, they face Newman in a non-conference contest before wrapping up their regular season with four against Pittsburg State.
#17 Florida Tech (33-10) beat Barry in a mid-week game but then were swept at the hands of an angry and motivated #9 Tampa in three games to fall to fourth in the SSC standings with their conference slate now closed. This week, they will have a chance to pick up some quality non-conference wins with a three-game schedule at Palm Beach Atlantic. They will also face NAIA Southeastern (Fla.) on Tuesday.
#18 UNC Pembroke (34-10) have won seven straight, and their offense continued to roll, scoring 72 runs in five games last week, with two victories over Barton and a three-game sweep of Lander. The Braves are only two games out of the PBC going in to this final weekend, where they take on 10th-place Georgia Regents in a three-game tilt. They will also face St. Andrews on Tuesday.
#19 UC San Diego (29-15) took three of four from Cal State-Stanislaus, including yet another ridiculous performance from Justin Donatella in the opener, as he went eight innings and allowed only two hits with six strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to 0.55 over 65.1 innings with 88 strikeouts. The Tritons shut out CS-S for the first 27.2 innings of the series, but fell in the closing game, 2-1. They have a single game this week on Tuesday against Cal State-San Bernardino, a make-up from a late March series.
#20 North Georgia (30-12) beat Anderson in a doubleheader and then won two of three at Francis Marion and hold a two-game lead in the PBC, with the Nighthawks finishing up conference play this weekend with three against Montevallo. On Tuesday, they will take on Truett-McConnell in a single game.
#21 Flagler (30-12) fell in a Tuesday game against Florida Southern and took two of three against Georgia Southwestern. This week, the Saints will face Rollins for a Tuesday contest and then head to USC Aiken to finish out PBC play with a three-game series. Sitting 2.5 games out of the conference lead, they will need a big performance against the Pacers, a team that is right behind them in the conference standings.
#22 West Alabama (31-9) took two of three at home against a good West Florida team and lead the GSC by only 1.5 games over #5 Alabama-Huntsville, the team they will face three times this weekend to finish out the regular season. The Tigers will also face Montevallo in a pair of mid-week games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
#23 Catawba (35-10) took two of three from Tusculum and will be competing in the SAC Tournament this week. Their first game will be on Friday against an undetermined opponent, one of Wingate, Anderson, Brevard or Carson-Newman. The Indians claimed the regular season title and the #1 seed in the tournament, although they should be on a crash course with Newberry later in the tournament.
#24 Southern Arkansas (31-15) beat Delta State and then took two of three from East Central, all at home, and will finish up their regular season this week. They will face Harding on Wednesday before taking on Arkansas-Monticello this weekend for three games. The Muleriders are 1.5 games out in the GAC standings, making each of the games against UAM must-wins if they want the top seed in the conference tournament.
#25 USC Aiken (28-13) won their only game last week against Emmanuel as they are in the midst of a non-conference week. They will face Paine on Tuesday, Georgia Regents on Wednesday and Emmanuel against on Thursday before taking on Flagler in a three-game series this weekend to finish out PBC play.
Colorado State-Pueblo (33-9) beat Adams State in a doubleheader on Tuesday and took three of four from Regis. This weekend, they will travel to New Mexico Highlands for a four-game series.
In highlighting some contenders from the Midwest Region...
Trevecca Nazarene (25-14) is still making their surge towards a potential regional tournament berth in a weak Midwest after sweeping four games from Ohio Valley, outscoring them 22-1 with three shutouts. They did, however, drop a mid-week game to Lee, one of the best teams they will face this season (blech). In a region as weak as the Midwest is this year, however, padding their record against G-MAC opponents could be enough to sneak them in to the tournament. This week, TNU will face GLVC's Bellarmine in a doubleheader on Wednesday for a decent test before taking on Cedarville in a four-game series at home.
Ashland (27-10) is still the leader of the GLIAC, and beat Lake Erie in a doubleheader and took two of three from Walsh. They will finish their series with Walsh on Tuesday before heading to Malone for four games this weekend, where they should face a stiff test.
William Jewell (28-11) beat Rockhurst in a doubleheader and split four games with Maryville, but are still tied for the lead in the GLVC. This week, they face Southwest Baptist for a non-conference game and head to Missouri S&T for four games.
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