Central Washington succesfully defends “Unofficial D2 Football Championship”

Well Dixie State made it interesting today, but Central Washington had enough for them and won 23-9.  Definitely a bit closer than the 37-6 result in Ellensburg last month.  This means Central Washington, barring an upset to Western Oregon next week in Monmouth, Oregon, will bring the Unofficial D2 Football Championship title into the D2 playoffs later this month.  Central Washington will have home-field advantage in the Super Regional 4, as they try to bring a National Title back to Washington.  We’ll see what happens though!

In past research I’ve tried my best to sort through things and have Arkansas State losing the belt to Southern Mississippi in November 1962.  Southern Mississippi was voted the National Champion by the UPI in that year.  Late in 1963 Louisiana Tech took the title from Southern Mississippi and were able to hold onto it for the majority of the 1964 season before late in the year losing it back to Southern Mississippi (the first time ever teams had traded the title back without a 3rd team involved).

Again all of this is so hard to tell for sure (especially how many of the wins are over teams that should qualify for even playing for the belt) but so far it seems to make sense…  I think it’s interesting how the belt started in the South and stayed there until Arkansas State lost it to the Northern Midwest (Montana State).  It stayed in that area (Dakotas and Iowa) until Arkansas State went back and brought it to the South where it would stay through at least 1964.  Don’t be surprised if it stays in the South for a good number of years as there was no National Tournament until 1973 and teams didn’t play too far from home very often (The only ones I have so far are the two involving Arkansas State).

The Unofficial D2 Football Championship

Well, I stumbled upon a site this week called, the Unofficial Football World Championships.  Its basic premise is to treat the title “World Champion” as a title-belt… every game you’re defending it and if you lose, the team that beat you takes the belt and becomes “World Champion”.  You can read about it more here.

So I thought it’d be fun to see how things would go with doing this in D2 Football!  Now because D2 Football ends in a playoff every year, generally speaking the Championship will end the year with the team winning the National Title, but sometimes a team could pull off an upset during the year, take the belt, and miss the playoffs (especially since ONLY 6 teams in each region get in!).

Well to do this correctly you have to pick a starting point… I have no idea what the first “D2″ football game was, UNO played back in the 20’s I think, but they played all kinds of teams… so I decided to start with the Southern Mississippi football team of 1958.  They went undefeated and were voted #1 by the UPI (The first ever NCAA College Division (The precursor to D2) Final Ranking Champion!).  So I decided to award the belt to them for winning that, and start from there.  Now it’s very very hard to sort through all these old schedules and figure out what teams should count as D2.  Memphis played a few “D2″ teams in 1959, but I think they were not technically a “D2″ school,  so Southern Mississippi’s loss to them doesn’t count as a title bout.  Because of all these challenges it’s really hard to say if I got the path right.  Just so much trying to figure out what counts that I don’t really have the time to do right now…

So doing my best to interpret everything and figure it out, I have tracked the belt in 1959 from Southern Mississippi to Louisiana Tech, who ended 1959 with the belt.  In 1960 Louisiana Tech lost the title to Arkansas State, who lost it to Montana State.  Montana State lost it to begin 1961 to North Dakota, who held the title until late in the year when they lost it to Northern Iowa, who lost it to South Dakota State.  I found that South Dakota State in early 1962 lost it to Arkansas State! Arkansas State became the first team to hold the belt twice. That’s how far I’ve tracked it from back then.

At this point North Dakota and Southern Mississippi each have 5 points (You get 1 point for taking the belt, and 1 point each time you successfully defend it).  South Dakota became the first team to have 2 chances to take the title in 1 year, losing to North Dakota and Northern Iowa in title bouts.  South Dakota State later got the same 2nd chance vs. Northern Iowa, but they won their game.

So fast forward to now.  I imagine with Grand Valley State’s 40 game winning streak they ended up with the belt at some point… it’s possible that for their 2 undefeated national championship seasons the belt ended the year with teams missing the playoffs, but I’ll bet my money that it didn’t both times.

So working from the assumption that Grand Valley State had the belt going into their 2007 Semifinal game vs. Northwest Missouri State, I’ve tracked it from there.  Northwest of course lost it to Valdosta State in the title game that year.

In 2008 Valdosta State held it for half the year before losing it to Delta State.  Delta State held it the rest of the regular season before it was traded 3 straight weeks in the playoffs (North Alabama over Delta State, Northwest Missouri State over North Alabama, and Minnesota-Duluth over Northwest Missouri State).  West Alabama got 2 shots at the title in 3 weeks when they lost to Valdosta State the week before Delta State took it and lost to Delta State the week after Delta State took it.  It’s possible this is the closest 2 chances have come, however it’s also possible a team lost a title bout to end a regular season and rematched in the first round of the playoffs… only time will tell.

This year the Championship started in the NSIC, but in week 2 Central Washington went and snatched it with a 13-10 win over Minnesota-Duluth.  Central Washington still has the title, having successfully defended it 6 times already.  The next challenger will be Dixie St on Saturday in St. George, Utah.  The chances of them taking the title are slim, they lost 37-6 to Central Washington earlier in the year (the GNAC has 4 teams and they all play each other twice), however if they did (or Western Oregon takes it next week) the title would not be in the playoffs this year!  So the title bout is set between 9-0 Central Washington and 4-5 Dixie St.  St. George, Utah, I hope you’re ready for the title fight!

MIAA Recap 10/3 – Mavericks Maintain Momentum!

Football

Well since this is mostly geared towards the Mavericks, let’s start with their game.

UNO went down to Emporia St, probably the 2nd worst team in the league, and won fairly handily 34-13.  Freshman Running Back Levi Terrell had 192 yads on 34 carries with 2 TDs. The Mavericks moved to 3-1 in the MIAA, and now have some home cooking to look forward to as they host Washburn, Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State in the next 4 weeks.  If the Mavericks want to make a push for the post season they will need to take care of business in these games.  Up first is Washburn who…

Knocked off Fort Hays State 28-14 to go  to 3-1 in the MIAA as well.  Washburn will tell us all we need to know about their team in the next 3 weeks as they go to UNO, host Pittsburg State and travel to Northwest Missouri State.  Win the first two and they could be playing for an MIAA title at Northwest.  Lose to UNO and Northwest and they may see their playoff chances slip away.  Huge set of games for the Ichabods.  UNO-Washburn is a mega tilt next week when it comes to the playoff picture.

Then there is Central Missouri who dominated Truman State 38-3 to go to 3-1 in conference.  They have it fairly easy hosting Fort Hays State next week, as well as in their other remaining home game when they host Missouri Southern.  The problem is the 3 road games are trips to Missouri Western and Nebraska-Omaha back to back and a season ending trip to Northwest Missouri St.  Sure if they run the table ’til then they probably would be playing for a conference title, but a much more likely scenario sees them at 7-3/8-2 and playing for any hope of a playoff berth.  With the tough road trips against two teams who are also in the playoff hunt I’d bet AGAINST the Mules making the run they need.

Pittsburg State has hung around in relevance by knocking off Missouri Southern State 21-13 (in Joplin).  First of all look out for Missouri Southern, they look like they could be a spoiler after giving UNO and Pittsburg State some tests in the last two weeks.  Unfortunately those were both at home and their remaining three big games are at Northwest Missouri State, at Missouri Western, and at Central Missouri. So if they do it I told you so, but it probably won’t happen.  But remember I told you so.  Pittsburg State still needs to win out and has it easier next week hosting Emporia St before a big game at Washburn.

And then there’s Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State who battled for the inside track today in St Joseph. Northwest proved they are still  the team to beat with a 49-35 win.  The Missouri Western defense is now looking very suspect having given up 31,34,40,and 49 in the first 4 MIAA games.  Still 3 of their last 5 games appear winnable (although Truman and Emporia are both going to be eyeing upsets).  If Missouri Western can avoid upset bids there and win one of their two games against Central Missouri and Nebraska Omaha they should be in good shape for the playoffs still. Northwest has easier games the next two weeks before hosting Washburn and Central Missouri in the final 3 weeks of the year.  Northwest has a fairly clear path now and should win the MIAA Title unless someone else (Washburn or Central) can run the table the rest of the way and get the tie-breaker over them.

So looking ahead to next week we have.

Missouri Southern State @ Northwest Missouri State – Should be no problem for Northwest Missouri State at home,  even with Missouri Southern’s play the last few weeks.

Missouri Western @ Truman State – Missouri Western wouldn’t expect to have any trouble against a Truman State team who hasn’t put up a touchdown in 3 of their 4 MIAA games so far (the exception being 31 against Fort Hays State), but Truman knocked off UNO around this time last year and can’t be overlooked… still an upset here would be a big surprise.

Fort Hays State @ Central Missouri – Fort Hays State probably can keep this one close, and Central could overlook them a bit as they look ahead to Missouri Western and UNO.  If Central stays focused though this one shouldn’t be a problem.

Emporia State @ Pittsburg State – Pittsburg State shouldn’t have any trouble with Emporia State on Saturday as long as they don’t overlook them.  Emporia has not shown they can win a game like this.

Washburn @ Nebraska-Omaha – This is easily the game of the week.  UNO would set themselves in front of Washburn with a home win while Washburn would all but finish UNO by knocking them to 3 losses at this point.  If UNO keeps improving like they have been the last few weeks this team should take care of business at home, a place where they are 46-4  in their last 50 regular season home games  and have won 6 straight Homecoming games.

Volleyball

The only conference game this week was Central Missouri traveling to Pittsburg State on Friday night where they avenged their earlier home loss with a 3-0 win.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team)

Central Missouri and Emporia State (+1)

Nebraska-Omaha and Pittsburg State (0)

Washburn (-1)

Truman State (-2)

Official Standings show Central, UNO, and Emporia near the top.  Pittsburg is a bit futher back at 4-3 but remember 2 of those losses were at UNO and at Truman State, so until the other teams make those trips and try to upset those teams Pittsburg is going to look a bit shakier.

Next week will see Central travel to Truman on Wednesday night, Emporia travel to Pittsburg on Friday night, Truman travel to Omaha on Saturday, and Washburn travel to Pittsburg on Saturday!  So some big games for all 6 of the big teams!  We’ll see if anyone can make a move. Truman needs this home game against Central really bad, and would love to make up some ground with the road upset at Omaha on Saturday.

Soccer

This week in big games we saw Central and Northwest tie in Maryville (meh have fun with that one standing guy!), UNO hold off Southwest Baptist 3-0 at home, and knock of Northwest 2-1 at home in OT,  and  Truman destroyed Southwest Baptist on the road 4-0.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team, oh and .5 points for a tie.)

Truman State (+2)

Nebraska Omaha  (0)

Central Missouri (-.5)

Southwest Baptist (-2)

Northwest Missouri State (-2.5)

When we look at the MIAA Standings we see Truman and UNO one two, just like this, but these standings show that Truman has pulled off some road upsets, so UNO is going to have to match them to keep pace while Truman has an easier run the rest of the way. Central Missouri is hanging around and gets all 4 of the other big teams in a row at home to end the season.  Their last chances to get a big road win are going to be at Truman and at Southwest Baptist.  If they can’t win those games they are going to need Truman to stumble to have any chance.

Next week we’ll see the Central at Truman match-up on Thursday, and Truman will also host Southwest Baptist on Saturday.

MIAA Review 9/26

Football

Northwest Missouri State – Northwest, who was now won 31 straight MIAA games (last loss Oct 2005 vs. Pittsburg State), has what might be the biggest game of the conference season on Saturday when they go on the road to fellow 3-0 in conference foe Missouri Western.  This game could be for all the marbles.  NW has a fairly easy schedule after that with the best remaining chances to stumble being vs. Washburn and Central Missouri at home. But if they lose to Missouri Western even a 8-1 season might not be enough to win the conference this year…

Missouri Western – Missouri Western, after upseting Pittsburg State on the road this weekend, is now in position to win the conference through some MAJOR home games. It starts this weekend with Northwest Missouri State coming to town.  A win would make them the team to beat in the MIAA and mean if they could go 4-1 the rest of the way they would win the conference.  After Northwest the biggest tests are all at home.  A October 17th meeting with Central Missouri and a November 7th year end game with Nebraska-Omaha.  A game that could mean a conference title with a win for Western and could be UNO’s last chance to reach the playoffs.

Central Missouri – The team that looked like the team on the rise after beating Pittsburg State last week has taken a step back falling on the road @ Washburn. They still are in position for a great finish and a possible playoff berth, but it looks A LOT tougher now.  This team doesn’t look good on the road, barely scraping bye @ Emporia State, and has to go to Missouri Western, UNO, and Northwest Missouri State in 3 of the last 4 weeks of the season.  I don’t see them getting through that stretch any better than 1-2, can they make the playoffs if they finish 8-3?

Washburn – Maybe this is the new team to watch out for? Washburn’s only loss on the year was a tough loss on a FG at the end to Missouri Western last week.  We’ll know all about Washburn after a 3 game stretch in mid October (@ UNO, Pittsburg State, @ Northwest Missouri State).  If they want to make the playoffs they’ll need to avoid slipping up outside of that and go at least 1-2 in that stretch.

Nebraska-Omaha – UNO has looked up and down, and didn’t look at their best vs. Missouri Southern, but got the job done none the less. The Mavericks need to take care of business on the road at Emporia State and Fort Hays State in the next 3 weeks, but the real tests will come at home where they take on Washburn, Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State.  The Mavericks probably need to go 3-0 in this stretch as they already have 2 losses, but if they do they would have the edge on Washburn and Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State would be done.  Can the Mavericks finish 8-3 with a loss at Missouri Western in the final game and make the playoffs or would they need a win to get in there?  If UNO can get rolling they could be an interesting team to watch.

Pittsburg State – I don’t think anyone saw this coming, Pittsburg State with their backs firmly pressed into the wall with 6 weeks left in the season.  They can’t lose again and still have road tests @ Washburn and @ UNO.  The good news is outside of those two games they appear to have 4 very winnable games, but they’ll have to win all 6 to have a shot.

Fort Hays State – Fort Hays looks to be one of those bottom 4 teams, and the schedule does them no favors sending them @ Washburn, @ Central, home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State in the next 5 weeks.  I imagine they’ll be lucky to emerge from that schedule 1-4.

Missouri Southern State – Missouri Southern has not looked great so far and has only one more chance to get a big upset at home when they host Pittsburg State next week.  If they don’t get the job done there they’ll probably finish 3-6 in conference, 3-7 overall.

Emporia State – Emporia State doesn’t appear to have much bite in them which will hurt their chances with the next 3 games home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State.  They also host Missouri Western and Washburn, so they’ll have plenty of chances to play spoiler…

Truman State – Truman State should be glad they got to play Oklahoma Panhandle in the non-conference season because I don’t see a conference win coming.  MAYBE at home against Emporia State on October 24th… but that’d be the best chance by far.

Volleyball

This weekend gave us several big games.  Central Missouri went to Washburn and pulled off a win 3-2, giving Washburn it’s second straight loss.  Truman lost at home to Missouri Southern 3-2 in a major let down. Truman did respond however by knocking off Pittsburg State at home 3-1 on Saturday.  UNO went to Emporia State and gave them all they could handle in a 3-2 Emporia win.  The Mavericks are for real, they’ll be in contention for the conference title. UNO had two KEY service errors in the final set down the stretch and still managed to make it 15-13.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team)

Emporia State and Pittsburg State (+1)

Nebraska-Omaha and Central Missouri (0)

Washburn (-1)

Truman State (-2)

The next big game, and the only conference match next weekend, is when Central travels to Pittsburg State on Friday night as part of the PSU Classic looking to avenge the home loss they had earlier this year.

Soccer

Soccer is probably a 5 taeam race at this point.  Truman State at 5-1, UNO at 4-1, Southwest Baptist at 3-1, Northwest Missouri State at 3-2, and Central Missouri at 3-2.  Central fell @ Washburn 1-0, and Northwest Missouri State fell @ Missouri Western 2-0 on Thursday. Truman had a big win Saturday 1-0 over UNO at home.

I’m going to use the same method as we have for volleyball (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team) amongst these 5 teams to see where things stand.

Truman State (+1)

Nebraska Omaha and Southwest Baptist (0)

Central Misouri (-1)

Northwest Missouri State (-2)

Northwest is a team to question, they are having a solid year so far but may not be up to the level of competing for the conference title.

Football

Northwest Missouri State – Northwest, who was now won 31 straight MIAA games (last loss Oct 2005 vs. Pittsburg State), has what might be the biggest game of the conference season on Saturday when they go on the road to fellow 3-0 in conference foe Missouri Western.  This game could be for all the marbles.  NW has a fairly easy schedule after that with the best remaining chances to stumble being vs. Washburn and Central Missouri at home. But if they lose to Missouri Western even a 8-1 season might not be enough to win the conference this year…

Missouri Western – Missouri Western, after upseting Pittsburg State on the road this weekend, is now in position to win the conference through some MAJOR home games. It starts this weekend with Northwest Missouri State coming to town.  A win would make them the team to beat in the MIAA and mean if they could go 4-1 the rest of the way they would win the conference.  After Northwest the biggest tests are all at home.  A October 17th meeting with Central Missouri and a November 7th year end game with Nebraska-Omaha.  A game that could mean a conference title with a win for Western and could be UNO’s last chance to reach the playoffs.

Central Missouri – The team that looked like the team on the rise after beating Pittsburg State last week has taken a step back falling on the road @ Washburn. They still are in position for a great finish and a possible playoff berth, but it looks A LOT tougher now.  This team doesn’t look good on the road, barely scraping bye @ Emporia State, and has to go to Missouri Western, UNO, and Northwest Missouri State in 3 of the last 4 weeks of the season.  I don’t see them getting through that stretch any better than 1-2, can they make the playoffs if they finish 8-3?

Washburn - Maybe this is the new team to watch out for? Washburn’s only loss on the year was a tough loss on a FG at the end to Missouri Western last week.  We’ll know all about Washburn after a 3 game stretch in mid October (@ UNO, Pittsburg State, @ Northwest Missouri State).  If they want to make the playoffs they’ll need to avoid slipping up outside of that and go at least 1-2 in that stretch.

Nebraska-Omaha – UNO has looked up and down, and didn’t look at their best vs. Missouri Southern, but got the job done none the less. The Mavericks need to take care of business on the road at Emporia State and Fort Hays State in the next 3 weeks, but the real tests will come at home where they take on Washburn, Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State.  The Mavericks probably need to go 3-0 in this stretch as they already have 2 losses, but if they do they would have the edge on Washburn and Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State would be done.  Can the Mavericks finish 8-3 with a loss at Missouri Western in the final game and make the playoffs or would they need a win to get in there?  If UNO can get rolling they could be an interesting team to watch.

Pittsburg State – I don’t think anyone saw this coming, Pittsburg State with their backs firmly pressed into the wall with 6 weeks left in the season.  They can’t lose again and still have road tests @ Washburn and @ UNO.  The good news is outside of those two games they appear to have 4 very winnable games, but they’ll have to win all 6 to have a shot.

Fort Hays State – Fort Hays probably is one of those bottom 4 teams still despite winning 2 of their first 3 conference games, and the schedule does them no favors sending them @ Washburn, @ Central, home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State in the next 5 weeks.  I imagine they’ll be lucky to emerge from that schedule 1-4.

Missouri Southern State – Missouri Southern has not looked great so far and has only one more chance to get a big upset at home when they host Pittsburg State next week.  If they don’t get the job done there they’ll probably finish 3-6 in conference, 3-7 overall.

Emporia State – Emporia State doesn’t appear to have much bite in them which will hurt their chances with the next 3 games home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State.  They also host Missouri Western and Washburn, so they’ll have plenty of chances to play spoiler…

Truman State – Truman State should be glad they got to play Oklahoma Panhandle in the non-conference season because I don’t see a conference win coming.  MAYBE at home against Emporia State on October 24th… but that’d be the best chance by far.

Volleyball

This weekend gave us several big games.  Central Missouri went to Washburn and pulled off a win 3-2, giving Washburn it’s second straight loss.  Truman lost at home to Missouri Southern 3-2 in a major let down. Truman did respond however by knocking off Pittsburg State at home 3-1 on Saturday.  UNO went to Emporia State and gave them all they could handle in a 3-2 Emporia win.  The Mavericks are for real, they’ll be in contention for the conference title. UNO had two KEY service errors in the final set down the stretch and still managed to make it 15-13.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team)

Emporia State and Pittsburg State (+1)

Nebraska-Omaha and Central Missouri (0)

Washburn (-1)

Truman State (-2)

The next big game, and the only conference match next weekend, is when Central travels to Pittsburg State on Friday night as part of the PSU Classic looking to avenge the home loss they had earlier this year.

Soccer

Soccer is probably a 5 taeam race at this point.  Truman State at 5-1, UNO at 4-1, Southwest Baptist at 3-2, Northwest Missouri State at 3-2, and Central Missouri at 3-2.  Central fell @ Washburn 1-0, and Northwest Missouri State fell @ Missouri Western 2-0 on Thursday. Truman had a big win Saturday 1-0 over UNO at home.  Southwest Baptist dropped a game @ Washburn 4-3.

I’m going to use the same method as we have for volleyball (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team) amongst these 5 teams to see where things stand.

Truman State (+1)

Nebraska Omaha  (0)

Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist (-1)

Northwest Missouri State (-2)

Northwest is a team to question, they are having a solid year so far but may not be up to the level of competing for the conference title.

D2 Softball – Conference Title Watch – 4/14

Well Conference Carolinas got rained out on Monday… but they’ll play other games on Tuesday.  A few other conferences will be involved too.

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division

Kutzown can clinch a share of the Eastern Division title tomorrow by splitting with East Stroudsburg, while a sweep would lock up the Division outright.  Shippensburg hosts Millersville and must split to retain any chance of winning a share of the title and sweep to retain any hope of winning the conference title outright.

Lone Star Conference

Cameron will travel to Central Oklahoma in a really big two game set, while Southeastern Oklahoma State travels to Southwestern Oklahoma.  While no result in the first matchup alone will eliminate either team, if Southeastern Oklahoma State is able to sweep their set, Central Oklahoma would be eliminated if they are swept.  Cameron would be eliminated if they lose either game and Southeastern Oklahoma sweeps.

Conference Carolinas

Well Limestone and St. Andrwe’s have already figured out when to play their series, on Wednesday, but Queens (N.C.) and Lees-McRae are still working on figuring theirs out.  Queens needs to play the game to have a chance at the conference title, and we’re going to assume they’ll find a way to play it (probably on Wednesday) until we hear otherwise.

Mount Olive is your clubhouse leader having finished the season at 11-5.  Two teams are left on the course, and both need to reach 14-6 to win the title over Mount Olive.

Queens (N.C.) must win all 4 remaining games to have a shot at the conferencce title, and on Tuesday they have to play two at St. Andrew’s.  If they lose either game, they are out.

Limestone needs to win 2 games to knock Mount Olive off the top and clinch a share of the conference title.  They can do that by sweeping Lees-McRae on the road Tuesday.

Mount Olive now needs to see the following happen to stay in the lead and win the conference:

• See Queens (N.C.) go 3-1 or worse
• See Limestone go 1-3 or worse

If either of those don’t happen, they will be eliminated.

D2 Baseball – 4/14

I’m gonna switch up the style of things after today… it’s too much work to try and figure out how the conferences look and how the matchups are affected every day.  So gone will be the daily national updates, and in it’s place will be conference summaries once a week.

April 13^th Review

East Region

(#14) West Chester @ Wilmington (Del.)  - West Chester wins 14-8

Wilmington (Del.) missed a chance to pick up a big win, but they’ll play again tomorrow at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philly.  The winner will be the Bill Giles Inivational Champion. West Chester has won 5 of the last 6 including last years, but Wilmington (Del.) won it in 2007.

Southern Connecticut @ UMass Lowell – Southern Connecticut State wins 10-3, 3-1 (More info here and here)

UMass Lowell missed a chance to keep pace here, Southern Connecticut State got must needed wins.

Saint Anslem @ Bentley – Game of the Day – Saint Anselm wins 10-5 (More info here)

Saint Anslem moves up in the standings while Bentley falls back.

D2 Softball – 4/14

April 13th Review

East Region

(#7) Bloomfield @ (#5) New York Institute of Technology – CACC GOTW – Bloomfield wins 4-1, loses 0-8 (5) (More info here)

I suppose the split favors Bloomfield who was able to pick up a nice win on the road…

(#9) Dominican (N.Y.) @ (#8) Queens (N.Y.) – Dominican (N.Y.) wins 11-0 (6), 18-3 (More info here)

Dominican (N.Y.) has to have the advantage on that 8th spot now right?

New Haven @ Merrimack – Merrimack wins 7-5, loses 1-5 (More info here)

New Haven remains a game back of Merrimack by getting the split in the 2nd game.

Southeast Region

(#1) North Georgia @ (#4) Georgia College – Game of the Day – Postponed until April 14th

North Georgia has already won the conference, but this is still a possible preview of the Conference Final and a great match-up.

(#3) Lenoir-Rhyne @ Mars Hill – Postponed until April 17th

Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill’s conference records appear to be flipped at first, as Mars Hill was up 2 games going into this week.  We’ll see what happens on the field.

April 14th Preview

Atlantic Region

(#2) Kutztown @ (#7) East Stroudsburg

East Stroudsburg is looking to pick up a couple wins here to try and move up the regional rankings. Kutztown can clinch the East Division.

East Region

(#6) Southern Connecticut State @ Assumption

Assumption is pretty much toast after a week that left them at 5-5, but Southern Connecticut State is still in it 2 games back.  Need to get these wins though.

Midwest Region

(#1) Ferris State @ (#8) Grand Valley State

Ferris State is poised to make a move on 1st, only a game out, but faces a tough road test at Grand Valley State who is only 3 games back.

South Region

(#3) Valdosta State @ (#4) West Florida

Valdosta State controls their own destiny now, but they could lose that chance if West Florida could spring the upset here.

Delta State @ (#9) Arkansas-Monticello

Arkansas-Monticello is tied with Delta State for the lead right now, this match-up will do a lot to determine who ends on top.

South Central Region

(#10) Cameron @ Central Oklahoma

Cameron and Central Oklahoma are fighting to see who can challenge Southeastern Oklahoma for the North Division Title.

Southeast Region

(#1) North Georgia @ (#4) Georgia College – Game of the Day

North Georgia has already won the conference, but this is still a possible preview of the Conference Final and a great match-up.

D2 Softball – Conference Title Watch – 4/12

Conference Carolinas could be decided today! Read on to find out how….

Conference Carolinas

Mount Olive is your clubhouse leader having finished the season at 11-5.  Two teams are left on the course, and both need to reach 14-6 to win the title over Mount Olive.

Queens (N.C.) must win all 4 remaining games to have a shot at the conferencce title, and today they have to play two at Lees-McRae.  If they lose either game, they are out.

Limestone needs to win 2 games to knock Mount Olive off the top and clinch a share of the conference title.  They can do that by sweeping St. Andrew’s today at home.

Mount Olive now needs to see the following happen to stay in the lead and win the conference:

• See Queens (N.C.) go 3-1 or worse
• See Limestone go 1-3 or worse

If either of those don’t happen, they will be eliminated.

D2 Softball – 4/13

April 11th/12th Review

Atlantic Region

Bowie State @ Elizabeth City State – Bowie State wins 14-2, 14-4 (More info here)

Bowie State is definitely the best team in the East, and it looks like they will fight Fayetteville State for the postseason berth.

(#7) East Stroudsburg @ (#4) California (Pa.) – California (Pa.) wins 8-2, loses 6-7 (More info here)

East Stroudsburg will be helped by the win over California (Pa.) who has only lost 5 games all year.

(#1) Lock Haven @ (#10) Indiana (Pa.) – Lock Haven wins 9-0, 8-0 (More info here)

Indiana (Pa.) is probably in big trouble now sitting 7 games back and with a season record of 16-16.  Lock Haven gets a needed sweep to keep pace with Bloomsburg at 11-1.

East Region

New Haven @ Merrimack – Postponed until April 13th

New Haven is a game back of Merrimack and both are right at the top of the standings.  Great series here.

(#2) C.W. Post @ Southern New Hampshire – C.W. Post wins 6-2, 5-2 (More info here)

Southern New Hampshire loses a chance to get a nice out of conference win, for C.W. Post this was really a no-win situation… but they took care of business.

Midwest Region

(#3) Ashland @ (#7) Saginaw Valley State  - GLIAC GOTW – Saginaw Valley State wins 2-1, loses 5-6 (More info here)

Sagniaw Valley State missed a chance to extend their lead over Ashland and Ferris State takes advantage by moving within a game.

Quincy @ (#10) Kentucky Wesleyan – Quincy wins 3-1, 3-0

Quincy keeps pace, but Kentucky Wesleyan has to be off the rankings… right?  Quincy gets over .500 (20-19) with the sweep.

(#9) Northern Kentucky @ (#4) Missouri-St. Louis – GLVC GOTW – Missouri-St. Louis wins 2-0, 2-0 (More info here)

Missouri-St. Louis does what was expected and hold serve at the top of the standings.

South Region

(#1) Alabama Huntsville @ (#3) Valdosta State – GSC GOTW – Game of the Day- Valdosta State wins 4-2, loses 4-9 (More info here)

Alabama-Huntsville has now lost twice in a week, doubling their losses on the year.  And now they sit with one more loss than Valdosta State and no longer control their own destiny.

South Central Region

Tarleton State @ (#3) Abilene Christian – Ablene Christian wins 5-4 (More info here)

Abilene Christian moves back into a tie with Angelo State at the top of the South Division.

(#6) Midwestern State @ (#2) Southeastern Oklahoma State – LSC GOTW – Midwestern State wins 4-2 (10), loses 1-2 (More info here)

The win could be big for Midwestern State’s regional ranking, but in conference it means Southeastern Oklahoma State still only leads Cameron and Central Oklahoma by 1 game.

(#7) Central Missouri @ (#5) Missouri Western – MIAA GOTW – Central Missouri wins 4-0, 9-1 (More info here)

Well MIAA, the team to beat is Central Missouri who is now 10-0 on the year and only 8 wins from a perfect regular season.  They still have to go to Emporia State and host Nebraska-Omaha though, so this is far from over. Missouri Western will also stay in the thick of things at 8-2.

Southeast Region

(#5) Newberry @ (#10) Carson Newman – Carson-Newman wins 4-1, 7-2 (More info here)

Carson-Newman got a much needed sweep here which might help their regional ranking.

West Region

(#3) Cal State Stanislaus @ (#1) Humboldt State – Cal State Stanislaus wins 13-7, loses 0-5 (More info here)

Humboldt State will take the 3-1 series win, while Cal State Stanislaus really needed a better result falling to 12-12 in conference.

Western Oregon @ (#7) Montana State-Billings – Montana State Billings wins 5-2, loses 2-7.

Western Oregon is stil toast, but it was nice for them to get a victory here.

April 13th Preview

East Region

(#7) Bloomfield @ (#5) New York Institute of Technology – April 13^th – CACC GOTW

Both of these teams would love a regional boost before heading back to conference play, we’ll see if either one can do it.

(#9) Dominican (N.Y.) @ (#8) Queens (N.Y.) – April 13^th

This is a battle for the final spot in the East, we’ll see who might have the edge going into the final weeks.

New Haven @ Merrimack

New Haven is a game back of Merrimack and both are right at the top of the standings.  Great series here.

Southeast Region

(#1) North Georgia @ (#4) Georgia College – Game of the Day

North Georgia has already won the conference, but this is still a possible preview of the Conference Final and a great matchup.

(#3) Lenoir-Rhyne @ Mars Hill – April 13^th

Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill’s conference records appear to be flipped at first, as Mars Hill was up 2 games going into this week.  We’ll see what happens on the field.

D2 Baseball – 4/13

April 11/12^th Review

Atlantic Region

Mercyhurst @ (#30) Slippery Rock – Merychurst wins 9-6, loses 9- 13 (More info here)

Mercyhurst was unable to get as much seperation as they wanted from Slippery Rock (only up 1 game), while they now trail California (Pa.) by 2 games.

Seton Hill @ Davis and Elkins – Seton Hall wins 6-4, loses 3-4 (More info here)

Seton Hill misses a chance to take the lead in the Northern Division, but with the weekend Davis and Elkins is now up a game in the Central Division.

West Virginia State @ Concord – West Virginia State wins 4-3, 4-2 (More info here)

West Virginia State now leads Concord by 4 games in the Southern Division, meaning it’s pretty much over already.

East Region

Nyack @ Wilmington (Del.) – Postponed until April 27th

UMass Lowell @ Southern Connecticut – Postponed until April 13th

UMass Lowell is only 1 game out but faces a tough series at a Southern Connecticut team who is only 3.5 games out but really can’t afford to fall any further back.

Bentley @ Saint Anselm – Postponed

Midwest Region

Rockhurst @ (#22) Southern Indiana - Rockhurst wins 3-5, loses 6-4, wins 6-0, loses 3-4

Well with the split nothing will change in the conference standings between these two.  Southern Indiana is on top by .5 games, but definitely advantage Rockhurst for getting the sweep on the road.

Northern Kentucky @ Indianapolis – Northern Kentucky wins 5-0, loses 2-3, loses 1-2 , wins 3-2 (More info here and here)

Indianapolis missed a chance to pull away from Northern Kentucky, however a 4 game margin is looking pretty safe at this point.

South Central Region

Southwestern Oklahoma @ (#25) Angelo State – Angelo State wins 3-2, 13-3 (More info here)

Angelo State remains 3 games back of Abilene Christian, hoping they make a mistake to jump on.

Southeastern Region

Limestone @ Mount Olive – Mount Olive wins 17-4 (More info here)

This is what I get for not paying close enough attention… the regular season is over for Mount Olive!  They end up the #2 seed in the conference tournament.  Limestone gets the #6 seed.

(#29) Barton @ (#21) Erksine – Game of the Day – Barton wins 5-4, loses 0-5 (More info here)

Well since they swept, they stay near each other and Barton gets the #3 seed in the conference tournament, Erksine the #4 seed… rematch next week?

(#8) Georgia College @ Columbus State – PBC GOTW – Georgia College wins 5-4, loses 4-6 (10) (More info here)

Georgia College probably doesn’t need to worry about Columbus State (3.5 games back), but they will have their eye on another team…

Augusta State @ (#24) South Carolina Aiken – South Carolina Aiken wins 3-2, 8-5 (More info here)

South Carolina Aiken got the sweep they needed and are only a game out now thanks to Georgia College’s split.

April 13^th Preview

East Region

(#14) West Chester @ Wilmington (Del.)

Wilmington (Del.) is a middle of the pack team in the CACC, but have a great chance to pick up a big non-conference win here.

Southern Connecticut @ UMass Lowell

UMass Lowell is only 1 game out but faces a tough series at a Southern Connecticut team who is only 3.5 games out but really can’t afford to fall any further back.

Saint Anslem @ Bentley – Game of the Day

Great matchup near the top where Bentley is .5 games out and 1 game ahead of Saint Anslem.