A whole bunch of excitement around the landscape of Division II baseball this past weekend. Dixie State throttled a fellow top-10 squad in our D2 Diamond Series of the Week, while California Baptist's Garett King toed the rubber for a dominating performance and the season's first nine-inning no-hitter. A couple top five teams struggled over the weekend, but we also have a plethora of double digit winning streaks to keep tabs on, as well.
We finally had our first nine-inning no-hitter of the season! Congratulations to California Baptist, and particularly Garett King, who absolutely dominated Academy of Art. King needed only *92* pitches in nine innings, with no walks and *15* strikeouts. The only thing separating him from a perfecto on this occasion was a hit batsman in the 4th inning and a batter who struck out reaching on a throwing error by the catcher in the 7th inning. We also had another seven-inning no-no, this time from Arkansas-Fort Smith against Oklahoma Panhandle.
March 23rd
California Baptist (3) at Academy of Art (0)
Garett King - 9 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 15 K, 1 HBP, 92 pitches thrown
March 25th
Arkansas-Fort Smith (3) vs Oklahoma Panhandle (0)
Hayden Harvey - 7 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, 11 K
By the way, a bit of a conference statistics update. In case anyone was wondering, the Lone Star Conference is leading the nation in batting average and on-base percentage (shocking, I know), with a .313 league average and a .404 OBP. The Sunshine State Conference is second in both categories, with a .312 league average and a .398 OBP. The rest of the nation is pretty far back from those two in the average category. The Peach Belt Conference has slapped 386 home runs this year, easily topping Conference Carolina's 339, while the Gulf South (468) and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (467) lead in stolen bases.
Before we get in to the weekend results below, our disclaimer: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE RANKINGS BELOW ARE NOT OUR RANKINGS. WE DO NOT DO RANKINGS. THEY ARE *LAST WEEK'S* PERFECTGAME.ORG TOP 25 RANKINGS WHICH CAN BE SEEN BY CLICKING HERE. THE NEW RANKINGS WILL BE COMING OUT ON WEDNESDAY.
Here is how last week's PG Top 25 performed over this past weekend.
1. Tampa (21-7, 8-1 SSC): You don't hear this very often, but Tampa has lost two of its last four games! Alas, they are still one of the jewels in D-II baseball this year. The Spartans took two-of-three from probation-period Embry-Riddle, taking game one (7-2) and game three (13-5) around a 6-4 loss in game two.
2. North Georgia (22-6, 9-3 PBC): After talking up UNG last week, they went ahead and dropped two-of-three to a UNC Pembroke squad that successfully defended its home turf, as they have done all year. The Nighthawks won the middle game, 16-10, but dropped the bookend contests, 10-6 and 6-4.
3. Chico State (24-5, 17-1 CCAA): Chico has now won 17 of its last 18 games after sweeping Cal State-Dominguez Hills in three games on the road, 17-4, 7-2 and 5-3.
4. USC Aiken (21-9, 7-5 PBC): USCA is now 3-5 in its last eight contests after winning that huge series against Nova Southeastern back in early-March, and the one win the Pacers got this past weekend against Lander required extra innings. USCA took the opener, 4-3 in 10 innings, but Lander took games two and three, 3-2 and 9-8.
5. Emporia State (22-5, 11-2 MIAA): The Hornets continued to impress in conference play, sweeping Nebraska-Kearney in three games at home, 4-1, 7-0 and 9-8.
6. Dixie State (24-6, 13-3 PacWest): The best result of the weekend came courtesy of Dixie State, who swept away #8 Point Loma in a four-game PacWest series in impressive fashion, 7-0, 11-3, 10-4 and 8-7. Dylan File opened the series with one of the more interesting lines you'll see from a pitcher. 9 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 124 pitches thrown.
7. Angelo State (22-4, 4-0 LSC): The Rams opened up conference play by ripping lasers all over the field in a four-game sweep of Cameron, 10-1, 10-4, 12-0 and 13-11.
8. Point Loma (16-8, 8-4 PacWest): PLNU was on the receiving end of that sweep at the hands of #6 Dixie State, unfortunately, as the Sea Lions dropped all four games of their PacWest series, 7-0, 11-3, 10-4 and 8-7.
9. Nova Southeastern (20-10, 8-4 SSC): The Sharks may have struggled recently, but after a three-game sweep of Saint Leo over the weekend, 14-7, 5-2 and 16-5, NSU is still third in the conference standings.
10. Azusa Pacific (23-3, 10-2 PacWest): Despite Dixie State's impressive showing so far this year, it is actually APU that sits atop the PacWest standings, as the Cougars kept hold on that leaders' position after a four-game sweep of Hawaii-Hilo, 11-2, 13-2, 12-3 and 5-2.
11. Mount Olive (28-5, 15-0 Conf. Carolinas): Make it 13 straight victories for the Trojans after they swept North Greenville in three games, 2-1, 1-0 and 7-3. They are still only two games clear of second-place Erskine in the Conference Carolinas standings, but have yet to face off.
12. Lynn (20-10, 4-5 SSC): Lynn had won 10 of its last 11 games entering the weekend, but that came to an abrupt halt on the road at Florida Tech, where Lynn got swept in three games, 8-5, 4-3 and 9-3.
13. Mercyhurst (12-1, 4-0 PSAC): 'Hurst opened conference play with a rather easy four-game sweep of Indiana (Pa.), 9-4, 7-3, 25-3 and 11-0. The Lakers have obviously been good to start the season, but have yet to face much resistance. Their series against Seton Hill this weekend should give more clarity.
14. Colorado Mesa (18-8, 10-2 RMAC): The Mavericks kept their spot atop the RMAC standings with a four-game sweep of CSU-Pueblo, 7-6, 10-1, 6-1 and 6-2.
15. West Texas A&M (21-5, 3-1 LSC): The Buffs came out on top in a four-game series against Eastern New Mexico to begin conference play, although it was a very competitive weekend for the most part. WTAM split the first two games, with a 2-1 win and 7-1 loss, and then took the final two games of the weekend, 3-1 and 6-4.
16. Lubbock Christian (21-8, 5-1 Heartland): LCU made surprisingly easy work of a team that is usually one of the Heartland Conference favorites, as the Chaps swept St. Mary's in three games, 11-1, 8-5 and 12-7.
17. Central Missouri (20-6, 12-4 MIAA): UCM is chasing Emporia State in the MIAA standings, but the Mules still picked up a series victory over NW Missouri State on the road over the weekend, picking up 4-1 and 9-4 victories around a 7-2 loss.
18. UC San Diego (20-5, 12-3 CCAA): The Tritons took two-of-three at home against Sonoma State, picking up 11-1 and 14-1 victories after the series began with a 5-1 loss. They remain atop the CCAA South standings, and may have a very big series coming up in two weeks.
19. Millersville (16-6, 2-2 PSAC): Millersville split a four-game series to begin conference play, with a 1-0 victory in extra innings to begin the weekend and a 6-2 win to end the weekend. In-between, however, Kutztown came out on top, 4-3 and 2-1.
20. Florida Southern (21-6, 6-3 SSC): The Mocs are now on a 13-game winning streak after they swept Eckerd, 6-2, 16-6 and 8-1.
21. Minnesota State (13-4, 8-0 NSIC): It is now a nine-game winning streak for the Mavs after a four-game sweep of Minnesota-Duluth in a bevy of low-scoring affairs. MSU won 1-0, 2-1, 3-1 and 10-3.
22. Delta State (22-7, 13-5 GSC): The Statesmen had a very good weekend, sweeping a good North Alabama team at home, 8-4, 18-10 and 6-2.
23. Southern Arkansas (23-5, 17-1 GAC): The Muleriders continue their assault on the GAC with a three-game sweep of NW Oklahoma State on the road, 8-7, 7-4 and 4-1. SAU is currently three games clear of Arkansas Tech in the conference standings.
24. Henderson State (18-10, 12-6 GAC): HSU took two-of-three from East Central, with 7-3 and 2-0 victories before a 4-2 loss to end the weekend.
25. Flagler (21-11, 9-3 PBC): The Saints actually had a good weekend despite not sweeping. Flagler took two-of-three against a Francis Marion squad that has cleared 20 wins on the season. Flagler took the first (2-0) and final (14-5) games of the series, with a 10-6 loss in the middle.
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