Conference tournament season is upon us! Conference Carolinas and the South Atlantic Conference are both doing battle this weekend for automatic bids to the regional tournaments, and outside of that, we have a number of series' this weekend between fringe teams in the first set of regional rankings. It will be an important weekend for a lot of teams as they either try and solidify their place in the regional rankings, or give themselves a better case to be included at all.
Disclaimer: THE RANKINGS BELOW ARE NOT OUR RANKINGS. WE DO NOT DO RANKINGS. THEY ARE FROM THE MOST RECENT PERFECTGAME.ORG DIVISION II TOP 25 RANKINGS, WHICH CAN BE SEEN BY CLICKING HERE. WE ARE ALSO INCLUDING THE CURRENT REGIONAL RANKING POSITION WHERE APPLICABLE FOR TEAMS FROM HERE ON OUT. Thank you!
First, take a peek at our D2 Diamond Series of the Week between a pair of teams jockeying for regional and conference position:
#4 SC/#22 PG West Texas A&M (29-11, 10-4 LSC) at #5 SC Texas A&M-Kingsville (29-10, 14-2 LSC)
Lone Star Conference
Game One (Friday, 4/28, 6 p.m. CT): WT Marshall Kasowski (7-3, 2.34) vs TAMUK Seth Hubert (7-1, 3.10) Live Stats | Live Video
Game Two (Saturday, 4/29, 1 p.m. CT): WT Joshua Payne (7-3, 2.37) vs TAMUK Preston Plovanich (6-1, 3.95) Live Stats | Live Video
Game Three (Saturday, 4/29, 4 p.m. CT): WT Ryan Larison (4-2, 4.15) vs TAMUK Isaiah Lybarger (5-2, 3.12) Live Stats | Live Video
Game Four (Sunday, 4/30, 1 p.m. CT): WT Noah Draper (2-0, 2.30) vs TAMUK Zach Wilson (4-2, 2.98) Live Stats | Live Video
(Projected pitching match-ups are based exclusively on previous series' rotations and should not be considered official in any way.)
We have another very even match-up, on paper at least, as the Buffs and Javelinas will go at it as two of the top three teams in the Lone Star Conference, and two teams that are fighting to stay within regional striking distance right now, ranking #4 and #5 in a region that is going to get a six-team regional tournament.
Of course, the highlight player in this series will be WT's Marshall Kasowski, assuming in the series-opener. He is one of the national leaders in strikeouts, having struck out 122 batters in only 65.1 innings of work, holding hitters to a .143 batting average this year.
To get a sense for how "even" these teams are, here are some team stats to compare: WTAM's slash line as a team is .319/.406/.475 while TAMUK's slash line as a team is .314/.410/.427. On the mound, WTAM boasts a 2.92 team ERA and a .226 batting average against, while TAMUK has a 3.64 team ERA and a .264 batting average against, which may give the nod to the Buffs, at least on the mound.
Here are the other match-ups we'll be watching this weekend, as well as some information for the two conference tournaments that are taking place this weekend:
#3 S/#13 PG Florida Southern (30-10, 8-7 SSC) at #4 S/#17 PG Nova Southeastern (28-15, 11-7 SSC)
Sunshine State Conference
Game One (Friday, 4/28, 6 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Live Video
Game Two (Saturday, 4/29, 1 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Live Video
Game Three (Saturday, 4/29, 4 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Live Video
Arkansas-Monticello (26-17, 21-9 GAC) at #5 C/#15 PG Southern Arkansas (34-11, 26-4 GAC)
Great American Conference
Game One (Friday, 4/28, 2 p.m. CT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Game Two (Friday, 4/28, 5 p.m. CT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Game Three (Saturday, 4/29, 12:30 p.m. CT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
#6 MW Grand Valley State (26-16, 14-10 GLIAC) at #2 MW Wayne State (Mich.) (27-14, 17-7 GLIAC)
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Game One (Saturday, 4/29, 1 p.m. ET): Live Stats
Game Two (Saturday, 4/29, 3:30 p.m. ET): Live Stats
Game Three (Sunday, 4/30, 12 p.m. ET): Live Stats
Game Four (Sunday, 4/30, 2:30 p.m. ET): Live Stats
#5 S North Alabama (32-15, 21-9 GSC) at #8 S Valdosta State (30-17, 17-13 GSC)
Gulf South Conference
Game One (Saturday, 4/29, 3 p.m. ET): Live Stats
Game Two (Saturday, 4/29, 6 p.m. ET): Live Stats
Game Three (Sunday, 4/30, 1 p.m. ET): Live Stats
#5 E Le Moyne (25-12, 12-4 NE-10) at #8 E New Haven (19-9, 10-7 NE-10)
Northeast-10 Conference
Game One (Saturday, 4/29, 3 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Live Video
Game Two (Sunday, 4/30, 12 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Live Video
Game Three (Sunday, 4/30, 3 p.m. ET): Live Stats | Live Video
#4 MW St. Joseph's (29-13, 11-9 GLVC) at #10 MW Illinois-Springfield (27-15, 15-5 GLVC)
Great Lakes Valley Conference
Game One (Saturday, 4/29, 12 p.m. CT): Live Stats
Game Two (Saturday, 4/29, 3 p.m. CT): Live Stats
Game Three (Sunday, 4/30, 11 a.m. CT): Live Stats
Game Four (Sunday, 4/30, 2 p.m. CT): Live Stats
#7 W Cal State Monterey Bay (26-16, 18-12 CCAA) at #8 W Stanislaus State (28-14, 17-13 CCAA)
California Collegiate Athletic Association
Game One (Friday, 4/28, 6 p.m. PT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Game Two (Saturday, 4/29, 2 p.m. PT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Game Three (Saturday, 4/29, 5:30 p.m. PT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Game Four (Sunday, 4/30, 12 p.m. PT): Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Conference Carolinas Tournament (Click for tournament website)
#1 Mount Olive (#1 SE/#9 PG)
#2 North Greenville (#6 SE)
#3 Belmont Abbey (#7 SE/#24 PG)
#4 Barton
#5 Erskine
#6 Pfeiffer
South Atlantic Conference Tournament (Click for tournament website)
#1 Catawba (#4 SE)
#2 Lincoln Memorial
#3 Newberry
#4 Mars Hill
#5 Tusculum (#9 SE)
#6 Coker
#7 Carson-Newman
#8 Wingate
In case you missed it, the NCAA released its first regional rankings, and here they are for your perusal. Keep in mind that each region has the number of teams ranked which matches its regional tournament field + the next two. For example, the Atlantic region will have a seven-team regional tournament, so nine teams are ranked:
Atlantic
1. Mercyhurst
2. West Chester
3. Lock Haven
4. Millersville
5. Seton Hill
6. Winston-Salem
7. Slippery Rock
8. Shippensburg
9. Shepherd
Central
1. Emporia State
2. Minnesota State
3. Central Missouri
4. St. Cloud State
5. Southern Arkansas
6. Southwest Baptist
7. Arkansas Tech
8. Missouri Western
9. NW Missouri State
10. Lindenwood
East
1. Southern New Hampshire
2. Felician
3. Southern Connecticut State
4. St. Thomas Aquinas
5. Le Moyne
6. Franklin Pierce
7. LIU Post
8. New Haven
9. Adelphi
Midwest
1. Northwood
2. Wayne State (Mich.)
3. Bellarmine
4. St. Joseph's
5. Walsh
6. Grand Valley State
7. Southern Indiana
8. Quincy
9. Drury
10. Illinois-Springfield
South
1. Delta State
2. Tampa
3. Florida Southern
4. Nova Southeastern
5. North Alabama
6. West Alabama
7. Union
8. Valdosta State
9. Florida Tech
South Central
1. Angelo State
2. Colorado Mesa
3. Lubbock Christian
4. West Texas A&M
5. Texas A&M-Kingsville
6. Tarleton State
7. Arkansas-Fort Smith
8. St. Edward's
Southeast
1. Mount Olive
2. North Georgia
3. UNC Pembroke
4. Catawba
5. USC Aiken
6. North Greenville
7. Belmont Abbey
8. Georgia College
9. Tusculum
West
1. Chico State
2. Azusa Pacific
3. Dixie State
4. UC San Diego
5. California Baptist
6. Point Loma
7. Stanislaus State
8. Cal State Monterey Bay
And here is what the next week's schedule brings for the latest PerfectGame.org Division II Top 25 rankings:
1. Tampa (29-11, 15-3 SSC, #2 S): The conference-leading Spartans are on the road for three games at Palm Beach Atlantic, a future SSC foe.
2. North Georgia (37-8, 19-5 PBC, #2 SE): UNG finishes up its regular season schedule with three games at home against Emmanuel College.
3. Chico State (34-7, 27-3 CCAA, #1 W): Chico can put the CCAA regular season title away this weekend, when they take on Cal State-East Bay in four games at home.
4. Emporia State (35-9, 24-6 MIAA, #1 C): The MIAA-leading Hornets are at home this weekend for three games against NW Missouri State, another team that appears in the first set of regional rankings, although at the tail end.
5. Mercyhurst (31-3, 18-2 PSAC, #1 A): The Lakers will play a split four-game series this weekend, with the first two games on the road at Pitt-Johnstown before two games at home.
6. USC Aiken (34-11, 17-7 PBC, #5 SE): USCA is done with conference play, but has two more weekends of regular season play, beginning with two games against Chowan this weekend at home.
7. Lubbock Christian (32-10, 15-3 Heartland, #3 SC): The Chaps will be on the road this weekend for three games at Arkansas-Fort Smith, a team only two games behind them in the the conference standings.
8. Colorado Mesa (34-8, 26-2 RMAC, #2 SC): CMU takes a 21-game winning streak in to a four-game weekend series against Colorado Mines.
9. Mount Olive (42-8, 25-2 Conf. Carolinas, #1 SE): The Trojans actually fell to six-seeded Pfeiffer (9-2) in their opening game of the Conference Carolinas tournament, and head to the loser's bracket where they'll face Erskine to try and stay alive in the tournament on Friday (Apr. 28). They'll have to win out the rest of the weekend to ensure their top spot in the regional tournament.
10. Dixie State (35-10-1, 24-7-1 PacWest, #3 W): The Trailblazers are off this weekend as they recover from their eight-game Hawaii road trip, where they went 6-1-1.
11. Angelo State (32-10, 10-5 LSC, #1 SC): The third team in the LSC runaway, Angelo has a chance to pad its record a little bit with four games at home against UT Permian Basin.
12. Azusa Pacific (35-8, 22-7 PacWest, #2 W): The Cougars won their first game against Concordia, 7-4, and have three more games against the Eagles this weekend.
13. Florida Southern (30-10, 8-7 SSC, #3 S): FSC faces its toughest opponent left on the schedule with three games on the road against #17 Nova Southeastern this weekend.
14. UC San Diego (29-11, 21-9 CCAA, #4 W): The Tritons won the first game of their weekend series against Cal State-Los Angeles, with three more games between them on the docket.
15. Southern Arkansas (34-11, 26-4 GAC, #5 C): SAU, with the regular season crown wrapped up in the GAC, finishes up the regular season with a three-game series against Arkansas-Monticello.
16. Delta State (35-10, 23-7 GSC, #1 S): Maybe a little bit of a surprise as the top-ranked team in the first South regional rankings, but the Statesmen are worth it! They finish up GSC play this weekend with three games on the road at Mississippi College.
17. Nova Southeastern (28-15, 11-7 SSC, #4 S): The Sharks will be hosting #13 Florida Southern in a huge three-game series this weekend, as both teams jockey for regional position.
18. Georgia College (30-11, 16-8 PBC, #8 SE): The Bobcats finish up regular season play with three games on the road at Auburn-Montgomery in non-conference play.
19. Minnesota State (34-7, 29-3 NSIC, #2 C): MSU continues its steamroll of the NSIC this weekend (maybe) with four games at home against Upper Iowa.
20. West Chester (26-7, 16-4 PSAC, #2 A): West Chester will be part of a four-game split series, with two games at home against Mansfield and then two games on the road. They'll also face Wilmington on Tuesday (May 2) for a single game on the road.
21. Northwood (33-9, 20-4 GLIAC, #1 MW): The Timberwolves will be trying to inch closer to their first GLIAC title in school history with four games at home against Ohio Dominican, where Northwood is undefeated so far this season.
22. West Texas A&M (29-11, 10-4 LSC, #4 SC): The Buffs hit the road as part of our D2 Diamond Series of the Week, playing four games against Texas A&M-Kingsville in a series that may put one of their regional hopes in peril if it is anything besides a split.
23. Central Missouri (30-13, 21-10 MIAA, #3 C): UCM dropped its first game of the weekend series against Missouri Western, 4-3, and will look to rebound in the final two games of the weekend
24. Belmont Abbey (31-15, 19-8 Conf. Carolinas, #7 SE): The Crusaders are right on the edge of the regional tournament bubble, and picked up a first-round victory over Barton on the opening day of the Conference Carolinas Tournament, 5-3. They'll face North Greenville on Friday, with the rest of their weekend to be determined.
25. Southern New Hampshire (30-7, 16-2 NE-10, #1 E): The Penmen picked up a 9-3 victory over Saint Anselm on Thursday (Apr. 27), and they have a busy week ahead of them, with two games against Saint Michael's at home on Friday (Apr. 28), four games on the road at Assumption this weekend, and then a single game at home against Franklin Pierce on Tuesday (May 2).
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