We are starting to get towards the end of the Division II baseball for some teams. A few conferences have only two weeks left of conference play, and only a few leagues around the country have a runaway winner. There were a few mild upsets this past week around the nation, and we also take a look at one of the most absurd baseball box scores in recent history, the 41-20 contest between Minnesota State and Bemidji State.
There were no touchdowns scored in the Minnesota State/Bemidji State game, but you wouldn't know that from the score.
Let me run through some of the numbers: For Minnesota State, Connor McCallum was 4-for-7 with six runs, four RBI, two doubles and a home run. Max Waletich was 3-for-5 with three runs, five RBI and two home runs. Dylan Dresel was 5-for-7 with four runs, three RBI and two doubles. Josh Wenzel was 3-for-6 with five runs, six RBI and a home run. Luke Waldek was 4-for-7 with two runs and four RBI, while Kevin Kramer was 3-for-8 with four runs and five RBI.
My favorite stat line of the game may have come from Bemidji State's Collin Eckman, who didn't even start the game, but still went 4-for-4 with five runs, seven RBI and three home runs in the losing effort.
The two teams combined for 56 hits, a new Division II single-game record. The runs, shockingly enough, were not a record, thanks to a 71-1 drubbing that St. Francis gave Robert Morris back in 1996 (which, by the way, only went four innings).
If you want to view the entire mind-boggling box score, you can see it here: Minnesota State 41, Bemidji State 20 (Apr. 11, 2015)
Here is the recap from last week's PerfectGame Top 25:
#1 Seton Hill (30-6) won the first two games of their series against Slippery Rock to extend their winning streak to 19, the last of which included a wild comeback in a 13-12 win, but then dropped the last two games of the series. Nicholas Herfordt already announced that there will be a new #1 team in his rankings this week on PerfectGame.org, so Seton Hill will be #2 this week when they face Davis & Elkins in a doubleheader and take on Gannon in a four-game PSAC series.
#2 Colorado Mesa (33-5) won three of four against Regis, scoring at least 11 runs in all three victories. They are still running roughshod over the entire RMAC, and should continue that trend this weekend with four games against Colorado Christian, the last team in the conference.
#3 Nova Southeastern (32-7) won a game against Palm Beach Atlantic last Tuesday and then, despite dropping the series opener to #16 Florida Tech, took the final two games in the series and are now 27-3 at home and are one game up in the SSC over the Panthers. The Sharks will face Palm Beach Atlantic again this week and then face the last-place team in the SSC, Rollins, for a three-game series this weekend.
#4 Franklin Pierce (30-2) is still rolling, winning 11 straight games now and still carrying a team ERA of 1.83 with 326 K's in 286 innings. This past week, they had an impressive 5-0 win over Southern New Hampshire, albeit it in a snow-shortened game, and then swept Saint Rose in a doubleheader. This week, they will face Saint Anselm on Tuesday and head to Merrimack for a three-game series this weekend.
#5 Mount Olive (32-10) beat Chowan in a pair of mid-week games and took two of three from North Greenville. The Trojans are nearing the end of their season already, and will complete all of it except for one game this week when they face Wingate in a Tuesday doubleheader and head to Belmont Abbey for a three-game series this weekend. They are 2.5 games up in the conference standings, so Belmont Abbey will have to really give them fits to bring UMO back to the pack.
#6 Alabama-Huntsville (32-6-1) went 6-0 last week, scoring at least 10 runs in every game in rolling over LeMoyne Owen twice, Montevallo, and Christian Brothers three times. This week, they will face Montevallo again and take on Union in a three-game home GSC set.
#7 Cal Poly Pomona (27-11) split a four-game CCAA series with Cal State East Bay and are virtually tied with UC San Diego for the lead in the conference. They are only one full game up on Cal State Los Angeles, who they will be facing in a four-game series this weekend with two games at each school's venue.
#8 St. Mary's (28-8) was featured in our Marquee Match-Up of the Week, and they did well, taking two of three from St. Edward's, including a 1-0 victory in 11 innings in game one as Matt McClain threw 10 (10!) innings of shutout baseball, striking out eight in 132 pitches. They also beat Texas A&M-Kingsville in a 9-8 13-inning game last Tuesday to go 3-1 on the week. They will face a tough Angelo State team this Tuesday before heading to take on Oklahoma Christian in a three-game conference set this weekend.
#9 Minnesota State (23-4) went 6-0 last week with a pair of 9-7 victories over Augustana, and then all heck broke loose when they went to Bemidji State. A mild 10-9 victory in the first game of the weekend was just an appetizer to a second game that was 41-20. Sorry, let me repeat that. 41-20. You can read more about that up at the beginning of this post again. In any case, Minnesota State went on to then put up huge numbers in the second day of doubleheaders, winning 14-4 and 23-1. For those who aren't math majors, that is 88 runs in four games. They will have a busy week coming up, taking on Upper Iowa in a mid-week doubleheader and taking on Concordia-St. Paul in a four-game set this weekend.
#10 Tampa (27-11) dropped their series-opener to #14 Lynn before winning the final two games of the weekend. That loss in the first game gave Tampa a very un-Spartan-like four losses in their last five games at that point. It will not get any easier for Tampa as they are now heading in to the middle portion of their ridiculously hard three-week schedule. They will face #16 Florida Tech in a three-game conference series this weekend.
#11 St. Cloud State (33-3) went 5-1 last week, sweeping a doubleheader from Concordia-St. Paul and then winning three of four against SW Minnesota State over the weekend. Their only contests this week will be a doubleheader against Mary on Wednesday.
#12 Columbus State (29-11) may finally be finding their stride. Now the winners of seven straight after beating Tuskegee and sweeping a three-game series from Montevallo where they scored 14, 20 and 14 runs (in addition to the 16 they scored against Tuskegee), the Cougars will face Albany State for a Wednesday doubleheader this week before facing Georgia Regents in a three-game conference set.
#13 Mercyhurst (28-2) beat Notre Dame (Ohio) in a mid-week game and took three of four from California (Pa.) in PSAC action over the weekend. The Lakers, who are now leading the PSAC after Seton Hill's split, will face Indiana (Pa.) in a split four-game series this weekend.
#14 Lynn (28-10) picked up that series-opening victory over #10 Tampa, but dropped the final two games of the weekend. The Fighting Knights will have a good shot at getting back on track this week with four non-conference contests. They will face Ave Maria on Wednesday and head to Palm Beach Atlantic for three games this weekend.
#15 St. Edward's (28-10), featured in our Marquee Match-Up of the Week, dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 11-inning game to open their series against St. Mary's as part of a doubleheader sweep. The Hilltoppers picked up a victory in the closing game of the series, however, to earn a quality win. This week, they will face Texas A&M-Kingsville on Tuesday and then face Oklahoma Panhandle State in a three-game series this weekend.
#16 Florida Tech (32-7) picked up a great non-conference win against Flagler last week before taking the series-opener at Nova Southeastern. They fell in the final two games of the series, but are still very much in the mix for the SSC regular season crown. This week, the Panthers face Barry in a mid-week game before welcoming #10 Tampa in to town for a three-game series.
#17 Emporia State (26-10) won four of five last week, picking up a victory over Washburn and taking three of four from NW Missouri State over the weekend. The Hornets are 3.5 games back in the MIAA race, but still have ample opportunities to try and catch Missouri Southern. They will have a busy week coming up, facing Washburn again this Tuesday, taking on Central Missouri on Wednesday, and facing Fort Hays State for a four-game series this weekend.
#18 UC San Diego (26-14) picked up an impressive 19-2 mid-week victory over Azusa Pacific before splitting a four-game conference set with Cal State Monterey Bay over the weekend. Justin Donatella is still dominating on the mound, sitting at 7-1 with a 0.63 ERA and 82 strikeouts in only 57.1 innings with only 31 hits allowed. The Tritons are basically tied with Pomona in the CCAA race, and with Pomona facing a tough schedule this week against Cal State LA, it opens the door for UCSD to take the lead as they face Cal State Stanislaus in a four-game series this weekend.
#19 Dixie State (25-11) not only had their big winning streak broken, but they got handled by California Baptist, dropping three of four to the Lancers over the weekend. They are still two games up in the PacWest conference race, however. They will have a bit of a break from conference play this weekend, taking on Saint Martin's in a four-game series.
#20 UNC Pembroke (29-10) beat Catawba in a mid-week game last week, then took two of three against a very talented Francis Marion squad over the weekend. The Braves still have the best overall record in the Peach Belt Conference, but are still fourth in the conference standings. They are three games back, and this week they will face Barton in a pair of mid-week games before taking on Lander in a three-game conference series. The Bearcats have been a bit of disappointment this year, but they are the scariest bottom-half conference team in the country. UNC-P is going to need to be on their game to stay in the conference race past this weekend.
#21 Colorado State-Pueblo (28-8) may have had a bit of a mental drain after that Colorado Mesa series, as they went on to split a four-game series with Colorado Mines over the weekend. This week, the Thunderwolves face Adams State for a Tuesday doubleheader before heading to Regis for a four-game RMAC set this weekend.
#22 Saint Leo (29-10) had an uncharacteristic weekend, dropping two of three to Florida Southern in what is a mild upset. The Lions are 3.5 games back in the SSC standings, and will have to sweep Barry in their three-game conference set this weekend to hope to have a chance to stay in the race with #10 Tampa still looming for next weekend.
#23 Catawba (33-9) dropped a mid-week game to UNC Pembroke, then won two of three against Mars Hill. This week, the Indians will face USC Aiken for a mid-week game before finishing out their home schedule with a three-game SAC series against Tusculum. They are three games up in the South Atlantic Conference race, and this is the last weekend of the conference schedule, so a single victory will wrap up the regular season title for Catawba.
#24 Flagler (28-10) fell in a close game to Florida Tech last week, then won two of three over Armstrong State over the weekend. They face Florida Southern for a mid-week game and then take on Georgia Southwestern, the last-place team in the PBC, this weekend for a three game series. Currently sitting 2.5 games back in the conference standings, it will be a big weekend for the Saints.
#25 Angelo State (26-12) split a four game series with Tarleton State, and this week the Rams will face #8 St. Mary's in a mid-week game before heading to West Texas A&M for a three-game Lone Star Conference set, a tough schedule to say the least. The Rams are third in the conference standings, three games behind Texas A&M-Kingsville, but WTAM is in between the two of them, making this weekend's series an important one.
Other #25 USC Aiken (27-13) (there was a tie for last week's 25th spot) fell in a mid-week game against Newberry, but swept Georgia Regents in a three-game conference series over the weekend. They will get away from PBC action for the next week or so, facing Catawba (Wed.), Emmanuel (Thu.) and Georgia Gwinnett (Sun.) this week.
A team being neglected a bit on the national scale is West Alabama (29-8), a squad which has now won 18 straight games and are 21-5 in the GSC, leading the way. In their 18-game winning streak, their best wins are a three-game sweep over Valdosta State, with the rest pretty underwhelming, but 18 games is 18 games. Their latest wins were a three-game sweep of Union over the weekend in conference play. This week, the Tigers will face William Carey in a mid-week game before welcoming a talented West Florida squad in to their ballpark for a three-game GSC series.
I am still at a loss when it comes to the Midwest region. If we look at the GLIAC, the top two teams are Northwood (21-13) and Ashland (23-9). Northwood is 14-4 in the conference, while Ashland is 12-4. I still believe Ashland is the class of the conference, but they just split a four-game series with Saginaw Valley State, an under .500 team. Grand Valley State (19-12) is still struggling to find their footing, not being able to put conference opponents away that they should.
In the GLVC, it is William Jewell (24-9) and Quincy (21-12) leading the way overall, with those two schools and Indianapolis (19-13) all 15-7 in the conference, and that is after William Jewell just lost three of four games against Missouri-St. Louis.
Again, it seems like things are circling back around to Trevecca Nazarene (21-13) in the region. The Trojans are 11-1 in the G-MAC and played one game last week, beating Union University. They will be back in action this week with a tough test against Lee in a mid-week game before they (most likely) roll Ohio Valley in a four-game conference series this weekend.
I have to assume there is still going to be at least one team in the Midwest besides Trevecca Nazarene that puts together a great winning streak and takes control of the region, but right now it seems like it will be William Jewell, Trevecca Nazarene and Ashland with a big logjam behind them. Not quite the group you would expect when the season started.
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