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. West Alabama (40-9) (30th, .556, 0-0)
2. Nova Southeastern (38-11) (24th, .562, 12-3)
3. Tampa (35-13) (16th, .566, 8-4)
4. Florida Tech (36-11) (23rd, .563, 4-6)
5. Lynn (34-13-1) (15th, .566, 5-5)
6. Albany State (20-32) (162nd, .502, 0-3)
Played at Livingston, Ala. (Tartt Field)
2015 NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament Page
I think most people will agree that West Alabama is a worthy #1 seed here in the South region, but the fact that they have not played a single game against a regional qualifier this season is a little concerning, and going by strength of scheduled, that is evident considering they have the lowest SOS in the tournament of any of the teams that will seriously contend here.
With that said, UWA and, in particular, its pitching staff, is going to be a formidable host of the best region in the country. The Tigers' pitchers are 5th in Division II in ERA (2.76), 8th in WHIP (1.20), 9th in shutouts (7) and 10th in H/9 allowed (7.78) to go with a 19th-place ranking in K/BB ratio (2.75).
UWA will be living and dying on the mound with the same six pitchers most of the weekend, I think. Out of the 14 players who have went out to the mound for the Tigers, six of them have pitched 350.1 of the 398 innings available, meaning a heavy workload for all of them.
The rotation consists of Gandy Stubblefield (6-3, 2.04 ERA, 58 H, 66 K in 75 IP), Fernando Gonzalez (10-1, 2.07 ERA, 4 CG, 78 H, 91 K in 91.1 IP) and Jorge Cruz (9-2, 2.75 ERA, 88 H, 64 K in 91.2 IP) will anchor that staff, with Josh Jones (4-1, 3.96 ERA, 32 K in 36.1 IP) serving as the most likely spot starter later in the tournament, having started 6 of his 8 appearances this season. Coming out of the bullpen will be a shutdown arm in Tanner Rainey (4-1, 1.03 ERA, 25 app., 9 SV, 48/11 K/BB in 26.1 IP, .112 BAA), who also serves as the best hitter on the team in a super utility role. Brandon Pennington (6-1, 2.12 ERA, 15 app., 34 K in 29.2 IP, .216 BAA) is the other pristine relief arm coming out of that pen.
Rainey, when not mowing down hitters as the closer, is doing the hitting himself, leading the team in home runs (17), RBI (58), slugging percentage (.827) and on-base percentage (.490). He is hitting .378 with 45 runs scored, 13 doubles, three triples and 32 walks.
The other two big bats in the lineup belong to Nick Delgado (.397, 30 R, 17 RBI, .474 OBP) and Mitch Holgate (.360, 47 R, 62 H, 4 3B, 12 HR, 46 RBI, .669 SLG, .447 OBP). From those three, the lineup gets a little easier to traverse, but there are still four more regular starters batting between .297 and .308 on the season, making for no real easy outs in the Tiger lineup.
The most dangerous bat in this regional tournament is going to belong to Nova Southeastern. The Sharks, who were one of the top teams in the country for most of the second half of the year, will be leaning on the power of Justin Garcia, who is ranked 5th in Division II in home runs per game (0.49), home runs (24), and slugging percentage (.901), while also ranking 7th in total bases (164), 10th in RBI per game (1.37) and 13th in total RBI (67). He leads NSU in runs scored (54), home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging and on-base percentage (.484).
He is joined in a talented lineup by Roche Woodard (.359, 51 R, 74 H, 18 2B, 5 3B, 35 RBI, .539 SLG, .428 OBP) and Mario Urdaneta (.344, 54 R, 11 2B, 7 HR, 50 RBI, .556 SLG, .446 OBP) to force pitchers to think twice, three times and four times about where they are going to be locating a pitch throughout the tournament.
NSU's pitching staff has the numbers and arms to compare to UWA, particularly out of the bullpen, where the Sharks might have the best in the country. NSU has four guys coming on in relief with a sub-2.00 ERA, with all of them capable of going multiple innings. The best of that bunch is Zachary Westcott (4-0, 1.74 ERA, 17 app., 2 SV, 58/8 K/BB in 41.1 IP), while Josh Glick (1-0, 0.42 ERA, 13 app., 15/3 K/BB in 21.2 IP), Devin Raftery (3-0, 1.45 ERA, 22 app., 6 SV, 43/6 K/BB in 31 IP) and Gilberto Torres (4-0, 1.93 ERA, 12 app., 18/5 K/BB in 18.2 IP) combine for a knockout group of arms. Those strikeout-to-walk numbers are not misprints, evident by NSU's #2 ranking in Division II in K/BB ratio at 3.75.
The starting rotation for the Sharks is good, not great, but they are more than capable of getting games to the 6th inning to allow for that bullpen to shut things down. Ryan Castellanos leads the way (9-2, 3.08 ERA, 3 CG, 60 K in 90.2 IP) in every pitching category, while Alex Mateo (9-1, 4.06 ERA, 87/19 K/BB in 77.2 IP) and Roberto Baroniel (6-5, 4.74 ERA, 64/19 K/BB in 76.0 IP) provide decent support behind him. Matt Hardy (1-1, 3.86 ERA, 24 K in 32.2 IP) will be one of the better starting options late in to the weekend compared to the other teams.
It isn't often that Tampa goes in to a regional tournament as an underdog, but here we are. The Spartans don't have the wealth of power arms that they usually have, but the offense is the best in this regional tournament, and there is a lot to be said about teams with heavy regional experience and success. Tampa is going to be one of the toughest outs in the country. When you have a team and coaching staff that has been there before, you need to kill them two and three times, because they know what it takes to compete at the highest level. I don't think Tampa will be intimidated by there being two teams ranked ahead of them, and they always have the potential to start clicking and go on a deep run.
For this season's version of Tampa, the offense is carrying the team. The Spartans rank inside the Division II top 20 in sacrifice flies (1st, 39), scoring (8.7 runs/game), batting average (.337), runs (418), hits (582), home runs (65), slugging percentage (.529) and on-base percentage (.416).
The toughest part of Tampa's lineup is that it is a tough out from 1-9 in the lineup.All nine usual starters are hitting over .320, and all nine of them have driven in at least 24 runs this season.
Cody deNoyelles (.368, 40 R, 12 2B, 8 HR, 41 RBI, .577 SLG, .428 OBP), Giovanny Alfonzo (.353, 54 R, 15 2B, 10 HR, 38 RBI, .609 SLG), Nick Flair (.339, 13 2B, 9 HR, 53 RBI, .588 SLG), Nick Tindall (.335, 15 2B, 10 HR, 33 RBI, .627 SLG, .424 OBP), Stephen Dezzi (.321, 40 R, 14 HR, 42 RBI, .687 SLG, .468 OBP)...the list goes on and on. The Spartans will be prone to giving up runs, but I doubt that even the talented staffs of UWA and NSU are going to keep Tampa in check.
The top starting arm in the Tampa rotation belongs to David Heintz (4-2, 3.58 ERA, 34 K in 50.1 IP), but Chase Sparkman and Brad Hencke are owners of ERA's over 4.00 coming in to the tournament. Dylan Barrow (4-2, 3.80 ERA, 20 app., 4 SV, 44 K in 45 IP) and Michael Calkins (4-4, 3.91 ERA, 15 app., 4 GS, 45 K in 50.2 IP) are both solid options out of the bullpen for the Spartans.
Florida Tech is a team that made their way up the rankings early in the season with one of the best starts in Division II. The Panthers won their first 17 games of the season to put themselves in the position to get to this point, and they have the offense to keep the season going deep in to this tournament. The Panthers are 8th in Division II in team batting average (.342) and 8th in on-base percentage (.426), but they are also leading the country in walks allowed per nine innings (1.97), 4th in K/BB ratio (3.52) and 7th in WHIP (1.18), making for a balanced squad.
The offense is led by a pair of guys easily clearing the .400 mark in batting average, as Austin Allen (.422, 48 R, 24 2B, 10 HR, 53 RBI, .733 SLG, .473 OBP) and Reid Neal (.419, 55 R, 11 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 36 RBI, .551 SLG, .487 OBP) lead the way for an offense that has seven regulars hitting over .300 with an eighth at .297. Allen's 24 doubles are the fifth-most in the country. As a team, the Panthers are one of the most disciplined teams in the country, drawing 218 walks to only 292 strikeouts, one of the best ratios in the nation.
On the mound, FIT has four capable starters, although two of them will be hard-pressed to keep the offensive juggernauts in this region at bay. However, Scott Ward (9-2, 2.04 ERA, 2 CG, 53/9 K/BB in 83.2 IP) and Ashton Fronsoe (8-2, 3.30, 49/12 K/BB in 71 IP) have the pedigree to get the Panthers off to a good start in the regional, especially in that first game against Tampa, where a heroic effort will be needed by the pitching staff. When it comes to the bullpen, the Panthers lean on Tim Whalen, who has racked up 45 innings of work in only 14 appearances and 2 starts. He is 8-0 with a 1.60 ERA and 26 strikeouts to only five walks.
If there is one thing to be wary of when it comes to Lynn, it is that the entire lineup has the potential to put the ball out of the park. While most teams have one or two power bats with double digit home runs, the Fighting Knights are featuring six guys who have at least five home runs this year, which gives Lynn the potential to stay in every game with one swing of the bat.
As a team, Lynn won't blow anyone away with their numbers, but they are hitting .318 as a team, led by John Borup (.384, 17 2B, 5 HR, 32 RBI, .476 OBP), Kyle Carter (.369, 8 HR, 22 RBI, .450 OBP, .660 SLG), Alex DeBellis (.362, 36 R, 11 2B, 6 HR, 38 RBI, .426 OBP, .525 SLG), Thomas Kain (.347, 43 R, 8 HR, 37 RBI, .421 OBP) and Matt Tietz (.304, 41 R, 12 2B, 8 HR, 41 RBI).
The Fighting Knights have a pair of starters that will keep them in their first two games of the tournament in Max Watt (5-2, 3.20 ERA, 82 K in 64.2 IP) and Travis Connelly (6-2, 3.72 ERA, 61 K in 77.1 IP), but beyond that, the offense is going to have to perform in a big way.
Finally, we have Albany State. The Golden Rams upset Stillman in the SIAC Tournament to earn the automatic bid here. Theoretically, they shouldn't be around this regional too long, but stranger things have happened in a regional tournament. The one thing ASU does have a chance at is causing some havoc on the basepaths. The Golden Rams are in the top five in Division II in stolen bases, led by Terrance Worthy, who is hitting over .430 on the season and is one of three players with at least 17 stolen bases on the team.
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