It is finally postseason time for NCAA Division II baseball, as the regional tournaments have been revealed and teams begin preparing for the run to Cary, N.C. and the Division II Baseball Finals at the USA National Training Complex. Below, we take a look at each of the teams in the region to provide a preview for fans to get a sense of what to expect as this week rolls on.
(Seed. Team (Overall Record) (SOS Rank, Opp. WP, Record vs regional teams))
1. Mercyhurst (35-8) (51st, .545, 3-3)
2. Millersville (42-9) (74th, .533, 5-3)
3. Seton Hill (42-11) (122nd, .514, 3-4)
4. Winston-Salem State (40-13) (108th, .518, 4-4)
5. West Chester (26-13) (27th, .558, 5-3)
6. West Virginia State (35-14) (208th, .482, 0-3)
Played at Erie, Pa. (Jerry Uht Park)
2015 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament Page
With all due respect to the bottom three teams in this region, the top three teams in this tournament are going to be a blast to watch. They beat up on each other all throughout the PSAC season, then continued it in the PSAC Tournament, where Millersville made an unbelievable run to the title.
Mercyhurst has a history of putting up some great pitching numbers, and this year is no different, as the Lakers are led by Jon Klein, who took the torch from Dan Altavilla and ran with it. Klein is 7th in Division II in WHIP (0.84), 11th in ERA (1.37), 14th in K/9 (11.98) and 14th in H/9 (5.46) as he put together a line of 8-1, 1.37 ERA, 3 CG, 79/14 K/BB in 59.1 IP with only 36 hits allowed, resulting in a .174 batting average against.
Unfortunately for opponents, it doesn't get much easier after Klein's outing. He is followed in the rotation by Colin McKee (6-2, 2.22 ERA, 4 CG, 74/20 K/BB in 52.2 IP, 33 hits allowed, .181 BAA), who is 10th in D-II in K/9 (12.65) and 19th in H/9 (5.64). And...guess what? The nightmare still isn't over for opponents. Then they have to deal with Cam Knott (5-1, 2.82 ERA, 48/12 K/BB in 38.1 IP and Matthew Jaskolka (5-1, 3.74 ERA, 46/6 K/BB in 43.1 IP). A four-deep pitching staff that should carry them deep in to the weekend. When those guys aren't on the mound, the bullpen pieces of Jake Hall (0-1, 3.10 ERA, 16 app., 7 SV, 19/6 K/BB in 20.1 IP, .178 BAA) and Ben Nolan (7-0, 3.14 ERA, 14 app., 2 SV, 30 K in 28.2 IP) are wrapping things up for the Lakers.
Offensively, Mercyhurst won't boast the top offense in this regional, but they are a balanced team that is going to do a good job of getting on base. Angel Martinez (.376, 39 R, 11 2B, .497 SLG, .419 OBP, 8/10 SB) and Brendan Cox (.373, 31 R, .459 OBP) get on base, and Giancarlo Saia (.370, 27 R, 12 2B, 5 HR, 38 RBI, .600 SLG, .452 OBP) and Hank Morrison (.345, 34 R, 4 3B, 8 HR, 38 RBI, .593 SLG, 9/11 SB) knock them in.
Those are four of the eight regular starters batting over .300 for the Lakers, with a ninth who is sitting at .296, making for no easy outs throughout the Mercyhurst lineup. If there is one weakness to this team, they are hitting .256 against left-handed pitchers this year and .337 against righties.
Going strictly by numbers, the nod in this regional might actually go to Millersville. The Marauders will enter the tournament on a 14-game winning streak, and are ranked highly in Division II in a number of categories. The Marauders are 6th in WHIP (1.17) and shutouts (9), 7th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.72) and fielding percentage (.973), 10th in batting average (.339) and 18th in on-base percentage (.417).
Offensively, Millersville is led by David Summerfield in the average department, as he ranks 4th in the country with a .456 average to go along with 37 runs, 10 doubles, 46 RBI, a .591 slugging percentage and a .510 on-base percentage. The biggest bat in the Marauder lineup belongs to Dan Stoltzfus (.401, 49 R, 14 2B, 14 HR, 76 RBI, .737 SLG, .461 OBP), who is 6th in the nation in RBI. Chas McCormick (.387, 55 R, 15 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 58 RBI, .597 SLG, .445 OBP, 19/22 SB), who does a little bit of everything, and is one of four players in the starting lineup with at least 10 stolen bases. All told, there are eight regular starters hitting at least .300 in the Millersville lineup.
The Marauders also have a spectacular pitching staff, but the starters run only two-deep when it comes to the numbers as opposed to Mercyhurst's four-deep. Those two are excellent, though, with Chris Murphy (11-0, 2.08 ERA, 5 CG, 64/14 K/BB in 78 IP) and Brandon Miller (11-1, 2.19 ERA, 6 CG, 76/11 K/BB in 78 IP) anchoring the staff. The bullpen leaves a bit to be desired, with nobody with at least 20 innings in relief harboring an ERA under 3.40, but with the innings those starters are putting up and the offense Millersville has, it might not be an issue.
If offense is more your style, then you will want to be a Seton Hill fan in this region. The Griffins have the top offense in the country for any team that made a regional, ranking 1st in Division II in slugging (.614), 2nd in on-base percentage (.434), 2nd in home runs (82), 4th in stolen bases (130), 5th in average (.351), 5th in doubles (129), 6th in runs (456), 7th in triples (22), 8th in HBP's (81), 11th in scoring (8.6 runs/game) and 22nd in hits (559).
That spectacular offense is led by a guy who is going to be competing for national player of the year honors in Nick Sell. The senior third baseman has an absurd line this season that includes leading Division II in slugging (1.105), RBI (92) and RBI per game (1.74), has him 2nd in batting average (.465), home runs (28), home runs per game (0.53) and total bases (190), 7th in on-base percentage (.540) and 11th in runs (64). Oh, and he also has 18 doubles, 33 walks and 10 stolen bases.
He is one of three guys the Griffins have batting over .400, as Chris Miller (.412, 41 R, 15 2B, 11 HR, 38 RBI, .809 SLG, 15 HBP, .533 OBP) is the other big home run threat in the lineup and Logan Urtz (.402, 15 2B, 31 RBI, .616 SLG, .434 OBP) joins the .400-average parade.
There are a pair of 20-stolen base players in the Griffins lineup, with Pat McCarthy (.365, 56 R, 20 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 33 RBI, .563 SLG, .423 OBP, 20/23 SB) and Garret Vrbanic (.327, 58 R, 10 2B, 5 HR, 41 RBI, .503 SLG, 23 HBP, .438 OBP, 27/31 SB) leading the way for a team which is 130-for-170 in stolen base attempts this season. Every single guy in the lineup has at least 7 stolen bases this year...and that is in addition to having 10, let me repeat, 10 guys who have started at least 28 games and are batting at least .310.
That incredible offense is going to be needed, because the Griffins aren't quite there in terms of pitching when compared to the two squads above them. Seton Hill has a 4.33 team ERA, but they have a bonafide #1 starter in Zach Martinelli (7-0, 1.90 ERA, 12 app., 9 GS, 26 K in 52 IP, .203 BAA). Unfortunately, the rest of the starting rotation carries an ERA north of 4.70. The bullpen includes Perry DellaValle (2-2, 2.51 ERA, 14 app., 5 SV, 23 K in 28.2 IP) and Austin Sleek (0-1, 3.00 ERA, 14 app., 2 SV, 18 K in 18 IP).
Winston-Salem State has the potential to surprise some people in this region, and it might be a shootout in that first game against Seton Hill. The Rams have a starting lineup where all nine guys in it are hitting at least .313 on the season, led in a big way by Conner Andrus (.384, 40 R, 11 2B, 5 HR, 51 RBI, 21 HBP, 8/9 SB, .543 SLG, .484 OBP). As a team, WSSU leads the country in hit-by-pitches (98) and are 20th in on-base percentage (.416). The Rams also have seven guys in double digits for doubles, and three guys with at least five home runs. Make no mistake, though, Andrus is the most dangerous man in the lineup, and I anticipate him raising that already high OBP as teams pitch around him.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the Rams quite have the pitching to go too deep in to the weekend. Their top starter, Sam Burton (5-1, 2.44 ERA, 16 app., 12 GS, 66 K in 70 IP) is a good one, but the other two starting arms have an ERA over 4.00, and I'm not sure that is going to be enough to traverse the lineups in this region effectively. Tyler Scearce (4-0, 2.04 ERA, 13 app., 5 GS, 35 K in 35.1 IP) could be pressed in to starting duty, but if not, he can contribute multiple innings out of the pen, which could be sorely needed.
With all the incredible offensive numbers and big bats in this region, I can guarantee that the hitter who will drive pitchers the craziest belongs to West Chester. The Golden Rams' Dylan Tice is a terror at the plate in a variety of different ways. Not only is he 2nd in Division II in on-base percentage (.555), but he is the 4th-toughest player to strike out (1 K every 34 AB), scores the 7th-most runs per game (1.38), has the 10th-best slugging percentage (.824), and the 14th-best average (.434).
His line for the year includes a .434 avg., 54 runs, 16 doubles, 5 triples, 9 home runs, 29 RBI, an .824 slugging percentage, 25 walks, 12 hit-by-pitches, only 4 strikeouts and a .555 on-base percentage. Good luck getting this kid out.
He is joined in the WCU lineup by five other full-time starters batting at least .313, including Drew Diehl (.352, .459 OBP) and Matt Petrizzi (.348, 4 HR, 40 RBI, .442 OBP).
The aforementioned Matt Petrizzi also serves as arguably the best pitcher the Golden Rams have, going 4-3 with a 3.20 ERA in 8 appearances (5 starts) with 5 complete games and 40 strikeouts in 45 innings of work. Unfortunately, it goes downhill a little quickly from there, with no other player having at least five starts this year with an ERA under 4.50.
West Virginia State, understandably, is going to have an uphill battle here. Their offense is just plain not going to be able to compete with the other lineups in this region. However, the Yellowjackets have a chance to cause some problems with a pitching staff that has put up some very good numbers this year. WVSU is 11th in Division II in ERA (3.10), 17th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.74), 25th in WHIP (1.31) and 4th in shutouts with 11.
They have a trio of starters that have been very good and led the team to a mild upset in the MEC Tournament, led by Tyler Thompson (9-1, 1.46 ERA, 4 CG, 70/11 K/BB in 67.2 IP, .221 BAA). He is joined by Tyler Hall (5-1, 2.98 ERA, 2 CG, 23 K in 51.1 IP) and Eric Roberts (5-2, 3.79 ERA, 1 CG, 27 K in 57 IP) to form a very productive trio. After they have done their work, it is up to a solid bullpen that features Curtis Johnson (1-2, 1.71 ERA, 20 app., 29 K in 26.1 IP, .118 BAA) and Joshua Falbo (1-2, 2.25 ERA, 24 app., 10 SV, 34 K in 28 IP, .206 BAA) to clean the rest of the game up.
The offense isn't going to be overwhelmed, but they just don't feature the big numbers of the other teams here. Jamison Jones (.375, 44 R, 23 RBI, .433 OBP, 8/11 SB) is a great table-setter for Anthony Payne (.365, 36 R, 24 2B, 4 HR, 37 RBI, .588 SLG, .427 OBP) and Trenton Porter (.355, 38 R, 11 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 31 RBI, .593 SLG, .415 OBP). And when the Yellowjackets do get on base, they can run a little bit, with four guys in the lineup with at least 8 stolen bases, including Brandon Wright at 17/20 and Cody Smith at 10/10 on the year in stolen base attempts.
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