The top teams in the nation showed why they are just that over the last week of play, as the top six teams in last week's rankings lost only five games, but two of those teams faced each other! There was a very competitive and high-quality D2 Diamond Series of the Week, where USC Aiken flexed its muscle and took a series victory from Nova Southeastern, while a number of teams around them dominated their competition.
First, our disclaimer that we wish didn't need to be said each week: THE TOP 25 RANKINGS BELOW ARE NOT OUR RANKINGS. WE DO NOT DO RANKINGS. THEY ARE FROM THE MOST RECENT PERFECTGAME.ORG TOP 25, WHICH WAS RELEASED ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8TH, WHICH YOU CAN VIEW BY CLICKING HERE. DO NOT GET UPSET THAT YOUR TEAM IS NOT IN THE RANKINGS, WE DO NOT CONTROL IT, AS WE DO NOT DO RANKINGS. THANKS.
Here is a recap of how the teams from last week's top 25 fared over the weekend. A couple notes to point out from top-to-bottom...North Georgia is rolling, Angelo State can't seem to be stopped, and Point Loma and Chico State are both riding 10+ game winning streaks after this past weekend's play.
#1 Tampa (16-5, 5-1 SSC): Tampa rolled Saint Leo in SSC action, 6-5, 12-1 and 12-6 over the weekend, before upending Bridgeport, 17-10, in a single game. The Spartans' seven-game winning streak was snapped, however, when a hot Seton Hill team beat them 11-8 on Monday (Mar. 13).
#2 Nova Southeastern (16-6, 5-1 SSC): In the D2 Diamond Series of the Week, the Sharks came up on the short end a bit, as they dropped two-of-three to #3 USC Aiken. The Sharks lost the first two games, 11-10 and 11-3, before picking up a 6-5 victory in the series finale to avoid the sweep. They added an 18-4 shelling of Merrimack on Monday (Mar. 13).
#3 USC Aiken (18-4, 6-0 PBC): The Pacers picked up a huge series victory in our D2 Diamond Series of the Week, winning the first two games over #2 Nova Southeastern, 11-10 and 11-3, before falling in the final game of the weekend, 6-5.
#4 North Georgia (17-4, 5-1 PBC): The Nighthawks have now won seven straight after dominating Armstrong State in a three-game conference series, 16-3, 14-5 and 4-0, and then rolling Auburn-Montgomery in a single game, 16-0.
#5 Dixie State (17-5, 6-2 PacWest): Dixie won three-of-four from Concordia-Irvine in PacWest action, taking the first three contests of the weekend, 5-4, 12-4, and 5-3, before UCI picked up an 11-5 victory in the series finale.
#6 Emporia State (15-4, 5-1 MIAA): Emporia picked up a series victory by taking two-of-three from Missouri Southern at home, winning 2-0 and 4-3 before dropping the finale, 9-8, in a trio of well-played games.
#7 Minnesota State (5-4): The Mavericks had the weekend off as they prepare for NSIC play this upcoming weekend.
#8 Colorado Mesa (13-7, 6-2 RMAC): CMU split a four-game RMAC series on the road at UC-Colorado Springs, with 10-8 and 8-0 victories in games one and three, and 6-5 and 4-3 losses in games two and four.
#9 Angelo State (16-2): The Rams are continuing to crush their competition, sweeping UT-Permian Basin in a four-game series, 10-2, 11-6, 5-4 and 17-7.
#10 Point Loma (14-3, 8-0 PacWest): The winning streak for the Sea Lions has hit 11 straight after sweeping Holy Names in conference action, 12-1, 6-3, 5-4 and 14-3.
#11 Cal Poly Pomona (13-10, 9-3 CCAA): The Broncos split their four-game CCAA series with Cal State-Los Angeles, grabbing 11-6 and 12-3 victories in the first two games at home, before falling 12-7 and 3-2 in the final two games on the road.
#12 Azusa Pacific (15-3, 2-2 PacWest): APU finally seemed to run in to some resistance for the first time this year, as they split a four-game conference series to open PacWest play against Fresno Pacific. The two squads alternated victories, with a 7-4 win, 9-8 loss, 16-3 win, and 6-5 loss on the docket for the Cougars.
#13 Mercyhurst (8-1): The Lakers missed out on a chance to probably inflate their record as their four games against Goldey-Beacom were cancelled due to weather.
#14 Franklin Pierce (6-6): FPU split a four-game weekend on the road in Cary at the USA Baseball NTC. The Ravens took their first game of the weekend against St. Thomas Aquinas, 3-1, before falling to Dominican, 8-3, and Slippery Rock, 7-6. They finished the schedule at the former national championship site with an 8-1 win over St. Augustine's. The Ravens also dropped a single game at Mt. Olive, 7-4, on Tuesday (Mar. 14).
#15 Flagler (17-8, 5-1 PBC): The surging Saints had a busy week, falling in a single game on the road at Valdosta State on Wednesday (Mar. 8), 4-3, before winning two-of-three at home against Lander in PBC play, with 9-5 and 10-4 victories and an 8-3 loss. They finished out the week with a doubleheader split against West Chester, dropping a 7-0 game before picking up a 6-4 win.
#16 Lynn (18-7, 4-2 SSC): Lynn had an extremely heavy schedule over the past week, as it took five-of-six games since last Wednesday (Mar. 8) and scored in double digits in each of its five victories. The Fighting Knights beat Chestnut Hill, 14-5, and then took two of the first three games of the weekend against Palm Beach Atlantic, 11-2 and 13-7, before falling to the Sailfish, 15-7, in the finale. After that series, Lynn got back on the horse and picked up an 11-2 victory over Molloy and a 29-6 (!) win over Southern Connecticut State in a game in which the Fighting Knights had seven home runs and 12 extra base hits, and three players who had at least four RBI in the game.
#17 Mount Olive (20-5, 9-0 Conf. Carolinas): The Trojans handled business over the weekend, sweeping King in road conference action, 9-3, 4-1 and 6-0, before picking up a solid 7-4 victory over Franklin Pierce at home on Tuesday (Mar. 14).
#18 Henderson State (15-6, 9-3 GAC): The Reddies picked up another conference series victory, taking two-of-three on the road from Arkansas Tech, winning 7-6 and 7-4 in the bookend games of the series. They dropped a 1-0 contest in the middle game of the weekend.
#19 Lubbock Christian (15-7, 2-1 Heartland): LCU began Heartland Conference play with a series victory over Oklahoma Christian, as the Chaps notched 11-5 and 6-2 victories in the first and third games of the series. They fell, 5-4, in the middle game.
#20 Central Missouri (15-4, 7-2 MIAA): Yet another two-of-three conference series victory, the Mules were able to pick up two victories against Central Oklahoma, with 6-3 and 12-0 wins and a 7-3 loss over the weekend.
#21 Millersville (11-4): The Marauders had the weekend off, but will face Wilmington in a single game at home on Wednesday (Mar. 15).
#22 Chico State (19-4, 12-0 CCAA): Possibly the hottest team in the country right now, Chico, the winners of 12 straight, pushed its winning streak there with a four-game sweep in conference play of Sonoma State on the road, 4-1, 5-3, 10-2 and 10-3.
#23 West Florida (12-10, 6-6 GSC): We'll see if the Argos hang on to their top 25 ranking this week, but they had another average week for the most part. UWF beat Auburn-Montgomery, 4-1, and then dropped a conference doubleheader to Alabama-Huntsville at home, 6-1 and 2-1, before salvaging a victory in the final game of the series, 9-3. The Argos then picked up a 9-5 victory on Tuesday (Mar. 14) over Embry-Riddle.
#24 Delta State (14-7, 7-5 GSC): The Statesmen took the first game of their weekend series at home against West Georgia, 5-2, but fell in the following two games of the weekend, 8-4 and 14-4.
#25 Wayne State (Mich.) (8-5): Wayne State is in the middle of its spring break trip in Florida, where they began the week with a 5-3 loss to West Chester, but rebounded for a doubleheader sweep of Pace, 7-1 and 4-3.
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