About half the country's conference tournaments were completed this past weekend, with fewer surprises than we got in last weekend's results. In this post, we take a look at how those conference tournaments went (or are going, in some cases) before the newest set of regional rankings come out.
First, let's recap the conference tournaments that finished this past weekend and in the early part of this week:
Atlantic Region
2015 CIAA Baseball Tournament (Apr. 30-May 2)
Champion: Winston-Salem State
Winston-Salem State took the victory in the CIAA Tournament, saving the Atlantic region from losing an at-large bid had Virginia State beat them. The Rams were #6 in last week's regional rankings, so the victory is well-earned and cements their spot in the regional tournament.
2015 PSAC Baseball Tournament (Apr. 29-May 2)
Champion: Millersville
Millersville rolled through the PSAC Tournament, going 4-0 en route to the tournament win. The Marauders were #4 in last week's Atlantic regional rankings, but victories over the top two teams in the region during the PSAC Tournament might be enough to vault them at least in to the top three, potentially putting them in the running to host the regional tournament.
Central Region
2015 GAC Baseball Tournament (May 2-5)
Championship Game: Southern Arkansas vs Henderson State
Southern Arkansas and Henderson State are facing off in today's title game to guarantee their spot in the Central region tournament. The Muleriders were #4 in last week's regional rankings while Henderson State was #6, so a victory will get one of these teams off the bubble.
2015 MIAA Baseball Tournament (Apr. 30-May 2, May 7-9)
Seeds Remaining: #1 Missouri Southern (#5 C), #2 Emporia State (#3 C), #3 Central Missouri, #5 Washburn
The only lower seed to advance in the MIAA Tournament out of the best of three series this week was #5 Washburn, which defeated #4 Missouri Western. That sets up the quarterfinals in the MIAA Tournament, which pit #1 Missouri Southern against #5 Washburn and #2 Emporia State against #3 Central Missouri. Both ESU (#3) and MSSU (#5) are currently in the Central region field based on last week's regional rankings, so either Washburn or Central Missouri taking the tournament crown would not bode well for the bubble teams in the region.
South Region
2015 GSC Baseball Tournament (May 2-5)
Champion: West Alabama
The Tigers rolled through the GSC Tournament, going 4-0 to claim the title. They are going to threaten for the top spot in the South regional rankings come Sunday night. West Alabama was #2 in last week's regional rankings behind Nova Southeastern, but UWA's victories this past weekend should rank much higher than NSU's two wins and one loss over Barry to finish the regular season.
2015 SIAC Baseball Tournament (Apr. 23-28)
Champion: Albany State
Southeast Region
2015 Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament (Apr. 23-26)
Champion: North Greenville
2015 SAC Baseball Tournament (Apr. 23-27)
Champion: Wingate
And here is our recap of last week's PerfectGame.org top 25 ranked teams:
#1 Nova Southeastern (38-11) finished their regular season with a series victory against Barry, wrapping up the SSC championship. Justin Garcia, he of 24 home runs this season, and the rest of the Sharks will most likely be a top-two seed come Sunday night in the South region.
#2 Colorado Mesa (43-6) swept four games from Colorado Mines to finish the season and win the regular season RMAC title. They will most likely be the top seed in the South Central barring a collapse in the RMAC Tournament, where the Mavericks will face Adams State to start, a team they went 3-1 against during the season.
#3 Franklin Pierce (43-2) is riding a 24-game winning streak after sweeping Bentley in a three-game series and beating Merrimack in the first round of the NE-10 Tournament that started on Tuesday. The Ravens will face New Haven on Thursday to continue the tournament. FPU should already have the top spot in the East region wrapped up.
#4 Minnesota State (40-5) took three of four from Winona State to finish the regular season, but were surpassed in the NSIC race by St. Cloud State. The Mavericks are taking on Winona State again to begin the NSIC Tournament on Wednesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.
#5 St. Cloud State (48-3) entered the NSIC Tournament on a 17-game winning streak after taking a doubleheader from Minnesota-Duluth and sweeping all four games from Northern State to win the regular season crown. They beat Northern State earlier today to begin the NSIC Tournament and push their winning streak to 18, and will face Minnesota-Duluth, another day one winner, on Thursday.
#6 Seton Hill (42-11) went 3-2 at the PSAC Tournament, beating Shippensburg before falling to top-seeded Millersville. The Griffins battled back with victories over California (Pa.) and East Stroudsburg before they fell in the semifinals in a rematch against East Stroudsburg. They will be looking to land a top-three ranking Sunday night in the Atlantic region.
#7 Tampa (35-13) finished the season by taking two of three from Rollins, scoring double digits in each of the contests. The Spartans couldn't battle back in the SSC race, but should be comfortably in the South regional tournament.
#8 St. Edward's (37-11) took two of three from Newman to end the season and earned the #2 seed in the Heartland Conference tournament, where they will take on Texas-Permian Basin on Thursday. The Hilltoppers were the second seed in last week's regional rankings, so they should stay close to there come Sunday night.
#9 Mercyhurst (34-8) lost their first-round game of the PSAC Tournament against East Stroudsburg, but rebounded with victories against West Chester and Slippery Rock before bowing out of the tournament against Millersville, the eventual tournament champions. Mercyhurst was the top team in the Atlantic region last week, and it will be interesting to see if they have held on to that spot with Millersville's surge.
#10 West Alabama (40-9) has won nine in a row and 21 of their last 22 to vault up the rankings, and that run continued with a sweep through the GSC Tournament, where the Tigers beat Delta State, West Florida and West Georgia before dispatching Delta State again in the title game. That was a big game for the South region, as a Delta State GSC Tournament win would have eliminated another at-large spot in the regional tournament, but UWA came through for the bubble teams and they could be in line for the top seed in the regional tournament come Sunday night.
#11 Columbus State (35-13) had the week off, but are now ready to hit the field again with a PBC Tournament quarterfinal match-up against UNC Pembroke on Saturday. Columbus State is the #6 seed in the tournament, with UNC-P at #3, so it will be an uphill battle for the Cougars. CSU was #3 in last week's Southeast regional rankings, while UNC-P was #4, making it a big battle no matter who takes the victory. They both need it since the #4 spot is basically the cut-off as some surprising tournament champions have taken the last two spots in the region already.
#12 Alabama-Huntsville (36-11-1) was hoping for a better showing in the GSC Tournament than they got. The Chargers beat Valdosta State before falling to West Georgia and Delta State to go 1-2 in the tournament. UAH is going to have to hope that they stay steady in the #5 spot of the regional rankings if they want to make the South regional tournament. The #6 spot has already been claimed by Albany State with a conference tournament victory, so the Chargers were already in the bubble position.
#13 Cal Poly Pomona (36-14) took three of four from San Francisco State to claim the regular season CCAA title, and they will be taking on #4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday to begin the CCAA Tournament.
#14 UNC Pembroke (37-12) had last week off but will get under way in the PBC Tournament this weekend with a quarterfinal match-up against Columbus State. It will be a game that pits the #3 (CSU) and #4 (UNC-P) teams in last week's Southeast regional rankings against each other, making it of utmost importance for both squads.
#15 St. Mary's (36-12) ended the year on a five-game winning streak after sweeping Texas A&M-International to take the #1 seed in the Heartland Conference Tournament. The Rattlers will face #4 seed Arkansas-Fort Smith to begin the tournament, and St. Mary's is going to need to make a good run through the tournament to find themselves in the regional action. The Rattlers were, for some reason, only 7th in last week's South Central regional rankings, the first spot out of the tournament. They can take their fate out of the committee's hands by just winning the Heartland Conference Tournament.
#16 Emporia State (36-13) began the MIAA Tournament by taking two of three from Lindenwood to advance to the double-elimination portion of the two-weekend MIAA Tournament. The #2 seed, the Hornets will face #3 seed Central Missouri on Thursday.
#17 Lynn (32-13-1) beat Palm Beach Atlantic but fell to Florida Southern in the first of a three-game series on Monday. They finish out that series with a doubleheader today against the Mocs. Lynn most likely needs to take both games today to stay in the running in the South region. The Fighting Knights were #6 in last week's South regional rankings, and with only five spots available, Lynn needs to make an impression.
#18 UC San Diego (32-17) split a four-game series with Cal State-Los Angeles to finish the regular season, finishing as the runners-up in the CCAA standings. The Tritons are the #2 seed in the CCAA Tournament, where they will be taking on Cal State-Monterey Bay on Thursday to begin the tournament.
#19 Millersville (42-9) won the PSAC Tournament with an impressive showing. The Marauders beat California (Pa.) before beating arguably the top two teams in the tournament in Seton Hill and Mercyhurst on consecutive days. They finished the tournament with a victory in the finals over East Stroudsburg. Millersville was #4 in last week's Atlantic region, but could be making the jump up to #1 with that showing.
#20 Mount Olive (36-14) rebounded from their 0-2 Conference Carolinas Tournament showing with a victory over the Southeast's top-ranked team, Catawba, on Monday. The Trojans were on the bubble at #5 in the Southeast regional rankings last week, but that victory over Catawba plus a chance to improve their resume even more today against Francis Marion could get them up to where they need to be in the top four to make the field.
#21 North Georgia (35-14) took two of three from Emmanuel to finish the regular season, and won the regular season Peach Belt crown, earning them the top seed in this weekend's tournament, where they will face Georgia College on Saturday to begin the run. The Nighthawks were #2 in last week's Southeast rankings, so they are comfortably in the field regardless.
#22 Catawba (40-13) took two from USC Aiken over the weekend but dropped a Monday game to Mount Olive to finish off their regular season. Catawba was the top-ranked Southeast team in last week's regional rankings, so even with that loss to UMO, the Indians should be comfortably in the field, although if North Georgia can roll through the PBC Tournament, then Catawba might lose hosting duties.
#23 Florida Tech (36-11) finished their regular season with a win over Webber International last Wednesday, and are on the bubble in the South region. They were #4 in last week's regional rankings, and with only five spots available in that region, they are going to have to hope for the best. They got some help from an underwhelming performance by the #5 seed Alabama-Huntsville in their conference tournament. The Panthers will just have to hold tight through Sunday night to see what their fate is.
#24 Southern Arkansas (38-16) was the top seed in the GAC Tournament and used that to get themselves in to the title game being played today. The Muleriders beat Southeastern Oklahoma State before falling to Harding, but came back to beat Ouachita Baptist and then take down Henderson State to advance to the championship game, where they are facing the Reddies again.
#T25 USC Aiken (33-16) dropped a pair of games to Catawba to finish their regular season, and they will begin the PBC Tournament this weekend with a quarterfinal match-up against Flagler. The Pacers are the #5 seed in the tournament, while Flagler is #4, and it is a battle of potential bubble teams in the Southeast region. USC Aiken was #6 in last week's regional rankings, with Flagler at #7.
#T25 Angelo State (34-15) finished their regular season by taking two of three from Eastern New Mexico to earn the #3 seed in the LSC Tournament, where they will take on #2 seed West Texas A&M on Thursday.
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