#1 Tampa rolled to a series sweep of defending national champion #3 Nova Southeastern in our D2 Diamond Series of the Week, while #2 USC Aiken got swept by conference rival Columbus State. Who is the top team behind Tampa right now? #4 North Georgia swept its series, while #5 Dixie State took three-of-four against a very good California Baptist team. Could they find themselves in the top three come this week's rankings? Guess we'll find out. Until then, check out the weekend recap of last week's PerfectGame.org Top 25.
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.
First, let's update everyone on the no-hitters list. I believe we missed one last week. We had three no-no's thrown between March 11th and March 19th, all seven-inning affairs. We have yet to have a nine-inning game end with a "0" in the hit column. Here is your rundown of the last three no-hitters:
March 11th
Seton Hill (5) vs Northwood (0)
Joe Shaffer - 7 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 12 K, 92 pitches thrown
March 18th
Concordia-St. Paul (6) vs SW Minnesota State (1)
Gus Varland - 7 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 14 K, 105 pitches thrown
March 19th
Le Moyne (6) vs LIU Post (0)
Sam Walsh - 7 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 100 pitches thrown
By the way...we are officially not going to have an undefeated team in Division II this year (shocker!). Everyone has at least one loss on the season now, and only one team has one loss on the year. That team being Mercyhurst, who is 8-1 and has had its last eight games cancelled or postponed.
1. Tampa (19-6, 8-1 SSC): I tell you what. Tampa keeps looking like a machine, surely. They just took it to the #3 team, Nova Southeastern, with a three-game sweep, 7-4, 6-0, 12-8. However, the honeymoon time was short-lived, as the Spartans then fell to Valdosta State at home in a single game, 5-3.
2. USC Aiken (19-7, 6-3 PBC): Are we starting to see the beginnings of a "Nova-induced let-down"? USCA, after winning a series against NSU, got swept by Columbus State on the road, 3-2, 8-1, and 10-9 over the weekend.
3. Nova Southeastern (17-10, 5-4 SSC): The Sharks got swept by the aforementioned #1 Tampa Spartans, 7-4, 6-0 and 12-8, but they picked up yet another victory over Flagler on Tuesday (Mar. 21), 6-4, to sweep the season series with the Saints.
4. North Georgia (21-4, 8-1 PBC): After USC Aiken got swept, could we be seeing the emergence of UNG as the PBC favorite? The Nighthawks swept Augusta in a three-game conference set, 15-4, 1-0, 7-0, and have won 11 straight games now.
5. Dixie State (20-6, 9-3 PacWest): The Trailblazers had a very impressive weekend, winning three-of-four against a very good California Baptist team. Dixie State won 6-1, 14-12 and 6-3 before CBU grabbed a 10-9 victory in the series finale.
6. Emporia State (19-5, 8-2 MIAA): Emporia upped its good conference record with a three-game sweep of Fort Hays State, 15-1, 5-4 and 12-0, but then proceeded to fall 4-1 against Missouri Western in a single game on Tuesday (Mar. 21).
7. Angelo State (18-4): One of the top series' in the nation last weekend turned out to live up to its billing, as the Rams split a four-game series with a hot #15 West Texas A&M team. Angelo took the first pair of games, 7-1 and 9-1, before falling 3-1 and 8-6 to end the weekend.
8. Point Loma (16-4, 8-0 PacWest): In yet another intriguing series, albeit a short one, the Sea Lions split a Monday (Mar. 20) doubleheader with Colorado Mesa, winning 1-0 and falling 3-2. If anything, it validates their placement at this point in the rankings.
9. Chico State (21-5, 14-1 CCAA): Welp, the Wildcats had their 14-game winning streak snapped, but not until they had already won their conference series with Cal Poly Pomona. Chico took the first two games of the weekend, 7-3 and 3-2, before falling 8-7 in the finale. They remain one of the top teams in the nation so far, and might even deserve a higher ranking than they currently have.
10. Azusa Pacific (19-3, 6-2 PacWest): APU took advantage of its favorable schedule over the weekend, sweeping Holy Names in a four-game conference series, 7-0, 9-6, 10-0 and 6-0. A shellacking, if you will.
11. Mount Olive (25-5, 12-0 Conf. Carolinas): The winning streak for the surging Trojans has reached double digits. UMO swept Pfeiffer in conference play, 7-5, 5-2 and 17-10, then took down Armstrong State on Monday (Mar. 20), 5-2, and Virginia State on Tuesday (Mar. 21), 13-4.
12. Lynn (20-7, 4-2 SSC): Lynn played a pair of non-conference games against Adelphi, coming away with two victories, 15-2 and 5-0.
13. Mercyhurst (8-1): The Lakers have now had eight (!!!) straight games cancelled or postponed due to weather after a doubleheader against Shippensburg and a single game against Notre Dame (Ohio) were all washed out.
14. Colorado Mesa (14-8, 6-2 RMAC): Mesa split a Monday (Mar. 20) doubleheader with a hot Point Loma team, dropping game one 1-0 before picking up a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.
15. West Texas A&M (18-4): The Buffs showed very well against #7 Angelo State squad, dropping the first two games of their four-game series, 7-1 and 9-1, before picking up 3-1 and 8-6 victories in the latter half of the weekend.
16. Lubbock Christian (18-8, 2-1 Heartland): LCU took two-of-three from Tarleton State in a very competitive weekend series. The Chaps won game one 5-3, reversed that score for a loss in game two, and ended the series with a 6-4 win in game three. They followed that up with a 22-0, ahem, "contest" against University of the Southwest.
17. Central Missouri (18-5, 10-3 MIAA): The Mules had a high-scoring weekend, but only came away with two-of-three victories against Nebraska-Kearney. UCM took 12-2 and 11-0 victories sandwiched around an 11-10 loss. They then matched up in an extra-innings affair with Lindenwood where the Mules won on a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning.
18. Henderson State (16-9, 10-5 GAC): The Reddies had a bit of a tough weekend on the diamond. Henderson State fell 1-0 and 7-1 to SE Oklahoma State, with a 1-0 victory in-between those two contests to salvage a conference victory. Then, on Tuesday (Mar. 21), they fell to Delta State in a 15-13 non-conference barn burner.
19. UC San Diego (18-4, 10-2 CCAA): The Tritons are continuing to roll in conference action, sweeping San Francisco State on the road in three games, 6-2, 5-3 and 7-2.
20. Minnesota State (9-4, 4-0 NSIC): MSU started conference play over the weekend with a four-game sweep of Mary, 3-0, 6-1, 4-3 and 6-3 to buoy their record a bit.
21. Millersville (14-4): The Marauders and Indiana (Pa.) traveled south to face each other, where Millersville took all three games of the series, 4-3, 14-0 and 1-0.
22. Valdosta State (18-9, 9-6 GSC): A bit of a Jekyll and Hyde weekend for the Blazers, as Valdosta dropped the first two games of its conference series to Union, 2-1 and 5-2, before picking up a 10-3 victory in the finale. Of course, after the series loss, the Blazers came out and upended the top team in the nation, #1 Tampa, 5-3 in a single game on Tuesday (Mar. 21).
23. Franklin Pierce (8-6): The Ravens won their only game of the week, with an 11-0 victory over Post on Tuesday (Mar. 21).
24. Delta State (19-7, 10-5 GSC): The Statesmen swept a solid Alabama-Huntsville team on the road in conference play, 13-8, 11-4 and 6-3, and then topped Henderson State, 15-13, at home on Tuesday (Mar. 21).
25. Flagler (19-10, 7-2 PBC): Flagler is still hanging around in conference play in the Peach Belt, winning two-of-three against Montevallo with 4-1 and 12-8 victories around a 7-3 loss. They came back on Tuesday (Mar. 21) at home with a valiant effort against #3 Nova Southeastern, but fell to the Sharks, 6-4.
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