Sunday, May 21, 2017

2017 Regional Tournament Update

We are hitting the final two days of competition in regional tournament play. Only two #1 seeds have been eliminated, and we have the bottom seed alive in four of the eight regional tournaments still. The West is already set for its championship series between UC San Diego and Dixie State, while we will have the championship day participants in all seven of the other regions by the end of the day today, weather permitting.

Below, we have a short recap of each regional tournament thus far, and let you know who is facing who today for the right to advance to tomorrow's championship series.

ATLANTIC REGION
Host: Mercyhurst
Site: Russell Diethrick Park in Jamestown, New York
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Mercyhurst (38-7), PSAC, .488, 184th, PSAC West Champions
2. West Chester (39-11), PSAC, .565, 23rd, PSAC East Champions
3. Seton Hill (36-20), PSAC, .591, 6th, PSAC Tournament Champions, PSAC West 4th Place
4. Millersville (34-19), PSAC, .524, 93rd, PSAC East 5th Place
5. Shippensburg (31-23-1), PSAC, .586, 7th, PSAC East 2nd Place
6. Shepherd (32-23), MEC, .528, 84th, MEC Regular Season Champions, MEC Tournament Champions
7. Winston-Salem State (36-18), CIAA, .473, 219th, CIAA Regular Season Champions, CIAA Tournament Champions

West Chester and Mercyhurst jockeyed for regional supremacy all season long, and right now, West Chester has the upper hand. WCU has gone 3-0 in the tourney, besting Winston-Salem (5-4), Shepherd (11-4) and Mercyhurst (8-4) en route to a spot in the regional title series on Monday (May 22).

Mercyhurst, Winston-Salem State and Shippensburg, all 1-1 in the tournament, will be playing on Sunday (May 21), with WSSU/Ship facing off in the morning for the right to face Mercyhurst in the afternoon. The winner of that game will advance to Monday's championship day, where they'll need to beat WCU twice.

CENTRAL REGION
Host: Emporia State
Site: Glennen Field in Emporia, Kansas
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Emporia State (42-13), MIAA, .532, 78th, MIAA Regular Season Champions
2. Minnesota State (46-10), NSIC, .489, 182nd, NSIC Regular Season Champions, NSIC Tournament Champions
3. St. Cloud State (41-16), NSIC, .506, 133rd, NSIC 3rd Place
4. Lindenwood (37-18), MIAA, .541, 59th, MIAA Tournament Champions, MIAA 3rd Place
5. Southern Arkansas (39-16), GAC, .490, 176th, GAC Regular Season Champions
6. Missouri Western (32-22), MIAA, .572, 15th, MIAA 2nd Place
7. Central Oklahoma (35-20-1), MIAA, .496, 159th, MIAA 5th Place
8. Arkansas-Monticello (32-21), GAC, .503, 138th, GAC Tournament Champions, GAC 3rd Place

Top-ranked Emporia State went 0-2 in the tournament, leaving this region wide open for Minnesota State, who is 2-1 so far. However, Lindenwood has continued its surprise run, and is one of two undefeateds in the tournament at 2-0 so far, taking down Southern Arkansas (14-7) and hosts Emporia State (12-11, 13 inn.). The other, who they'll face on Sunday (May 21), is St. Cloud State, who has downed Missouri Western (12-0) and Minnesota State (9-4). Lindenwood and SCSU face off in the winner's bracket, while Central Oklahoma and Minnesota State are in an elimination game today.

EAST REGION
Host: Southern New Hampshire
Site: Penmen Field in Manchester, New Hampshire
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Southern New Hampshire (42-10), NE-10, .498, 151st, NE-10 Regular Season Champions, NE-10 NE Champions
2. New Haven (30-13), NE-10, .494, 165th, NE-10 Tournament Champions, NE-10 SW 2nd Place
3. St. Thomas Aquinas (31-15), ECC, .532, 79th, ECC Regular Season Champions
4. LIU Post (32-19), ECC, .575, 13th, ECC Tournament Champions, ECC 2nd Place
5. Felician (34-14), CACC, .498, 152nd, CACC Regular Season Champions
6. Southern Connecticut State (27-16-1), NE-10, .520, 102nd, NE-10 SW Champions
7. Dominican (22-29), CACC, .483, 199th, CACC Tournament Champions, CACC 6th Place

We are down four teams in the East, but the favorite, SNHU, is playing in an elimination game today. The crown of this tournament so far has been St. Thomas Aquinas, who has went 3-0, with victories over Southern Connecticut (8-3), New Haven (4-1) and #1 SNHU (13-1) to advance to the championship series on Monday (May 22). Felician and LIU Post play first on Sunday (May 21), with the winner facing SNHU to advance on to Monday.

MIDWEST REGION
Host: Northwood
Site: Gerace Stadium in Midland, Michigan
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Northwood (46-11), GLIAC, .493, 168th, GLIAC Regular Season Champions, GLIAC Tournament Champions
2. Southern Indiana (32-21), GLVC, .513, 116th, GLVC Regular Season Champions, GLVC East Champions
3. Quincy (34-21), GLVC, .552, 37th, GLVC Tournament Champions, GLVC West 2nd Place
4. Drury (37-20), GLVC, .539, 61st, GLVC West Champions
5. Bellarmine (34-21), GLVC, .548, 43rd, GLVC East 2nd Place
6. Wayne State (Mich.) (33-20), GLIAC, .574, 14th, GLIAC 2nd Place
7. St. Joseph's (Ind.) (35-22), GLVC, .530, 80th, GLVC East 4th Place
8. Kentucky Wesleyan (29-23), GMAC, .489, 181st, GMAC Tournament Champions, GMAC 3rd Place

The postseason newbies, Northwood, have already won their way to the championship series on Monday (May 22), going 3-0 with wins over Kentucky Wesleyan (10-2), Drury (3-2) and Quincy (5-3). They got a break with USI going 0-2, leaving them as a big favorite the rest of the way.

Kentucky Wesleyan is still hanging around, even as the bottom seed in the tournament, and they will be taking on Wayne State in an elimination game today, with the winner facing Quincy for a spot in Monday's championship series. The GLIAC has come out on top of the GLVC in this regional so far, but the GMAC's lone rep is making noise.

SOUTH REGION
Host: Delta State
Site: Harvey Stadium - Ferriss Field in Cleveland, Mississippi
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Delta State (43-11), GSC, .576, 10th, GSC Regular Season Champions, GSC Tournament Champions
2. Tampa (39-13), SSC, .562, 25th, SSC Champions
3. Nova Southeastern (35-17), SSC, .595, 5th, SSC 2nd Place
4. Florida Southern (35-16), SSC, .575, 12th, SSC 4th Place
5. Valdosta State (33-22), GSC, .509, 125th, GSC 4th Place
6. West Alabama (36-20), GSC, .544, 50th, GSC 2nd Place
7. Miles (31-23), SIAC, .491, 172nd, SIAC Tournament Champions, SIAC West 2nd Place

Things are going pretty much to script in the South, with top-seeded Delta State going 2-0 to advance to Monday's (May 22) championship series, defeating Florida Southern (9-7) and Nova Southeastern (4-1). West Alabama and Tampa face off on Sunday (May 21) afternoon, with the winner facing Nova Southeastern Sunday night to advance to Monday, as NSU looks to keep defending its national championship crown.

SOUTHEAST REGION
Host: Mount Olive
Site: Scarborough Field in Mount Olive, North Carolina
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Mount Olive (48-9), Conf. Carolinas, .543, 53rd, CC Regular Season Champions, CC Tournament Champions
2. North Georgia (45-10), PBC, .521, 99th, PBC Regular Season Champions
3. USC Aiken (40-15), PBC, .565, 22nd, PBC 2nd Place
4. Catawba (38-16), SAC, .597, 3rd, SAC Regular Season Champions
5. UNC Pembroke (41-17), PBC, .534, 75th, PBC 4th Place
6. Georgia College (35-15), PBC, .539, 64th, PBC Tournament Champions, PBC 3rd Place
7. Lincoln Memorial (35-18), SAC, .515, 110th, SAC Tournament Champions, SAC 2nd Place

North Georgia has rolled to a 3-0 record and a spot on championship Monday (May 22), defeating Lincoln Memorial (4-1), USC Aiken (6-2) and top-seed Mount Olive (13-6). That leaves the other three battling it out on Sunday (May 21), where Lincoln Memorial and Catawba face off, with the winner taking on UMO later Sunday afternoon, with that winner heading to Monday. LMU has continued its two month-long run, even after dropping their opener of the regional tournament.

SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
Host: Angelo State
Site: Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Field in San Angelo, Texas
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Angelo State (42-14), LSC, .536, 71st, LSC Regular Season Champions
2. Colorado Mesa (46-10), RMAC, .542, 55th, RMAC Regular Season Champions, RMAC Tournament Champions
3. West Texas A&M (36-17), LSC, .524, 94th, LSC Tournament Champions, LSC 3rd Place
4. Lubbock Christian (38-15), Heartland, .525, 90th, HC Regular Season Champions
5. St. Edward's (33-20), Heartland, .484, 197th, HC Tournament Champions, HC 4th Place
6. Arkansas-Fort Smith (34-21), Heartland, .560, 29th, HC 2nd Place

This region has been as advertised. It was a wide open field, and it remains wide open. This region had all of Friday's games rained out, so this is the only region without anyone in Monday's championship series yet, although Colorado Mesa is the only undefeated remaining so far.

For Sunday's (May 21) schedule, we will have Angelo taking on Lubbock Christian, with the winner of that game facing Colorado Mesa later this evening. West Texas A&M and Arkansas-Fort Smith will face off, with that winner heading to Monday's championship series.

WEST REGION
Host: Azusa Pacific
Site: Cougar Baseball Complex in Azusa, California
Regional Tournament Page

(Reg. Rank, Team (D2 Record), Conference, SOS, SOS Rank, Notes)
1. Chico State (45-11), CCAA, .533, 76th, CCAA Regular Season Champions, CCAA Tournament Champions
2. Azusa Pacific (42-12), PacWest, .510, 124th, PacWest Regular Season Champions
3. Dixie State (39-13-1), PacWest, .490, 177th, PacWest 2nd Place
4. UC San Diego (39-17), CCAA, .502, 140th, CCAA South 2nd Place
5. California Baptist (35-18), PacWest, .523, 97th, PacWest 3rd Place
6. Cal Poly Pomona (34-22), CCAA, .514, 113th, CCAA South Champions

Here we have our only region where the championship series is all set to go. This is also the region where we had our biggest surprise of all the regional tournaments. Chico State was one of the best teams in the country all year long, but their reign ended at a bad time, going 0-2 in the tournament to be the first team eliminated from this region. UCSD has been the best team each day so far, going 3-0 with wins over Dixie State (5-2), Azusa Pacific (4-0) and Azusa Pacific again (11-3). The other title series participant, Dixie State, has gone 2-1, with that loss to UCSD (5-2), but victories over Cal Poly Pomona (6-5) and California Baptist (14-5). They'll have to beat UCSD twice on Monday (May 22) to win the crown, as the teams have Sunday (May 21) off.

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