Top
ranked Tampa’s remarkable season continued as the Spartans set a
new win percentage record when they swept a doubleheader from Florida
Tech on Sunday. With the wins Head Coach Joe Urso’s team earned
their 47th victory
of the year with only a pair of losses to finish the regular season
at an incredible .959 winning percentage. The final win was
punctuated by a phenomenal performance by Tampa senior Jacob
Tillotson, who not only played all nine positions in the finale, but
also had a pair of hits and RBI and also struck out the side in the
final inning to close the game. Tampa will unquestionably be
announced as the top seed and host the South Regional when the
selections are revealed Sunday night.
A
likely opponent at some time in the South Regional will be
fourth-ranked Delta State who also is finishing their season with an
exclamation point. After earning three wins to open the Gulf South
Conference Baseball Tournament, the Statesmen played themselves into
the championship game and will be playing for their 13th GSC title. A win would not only give DSU a well-earned dog-pile
celebration, but also the second seed in the ultra-competitive
regional.
The
Great American Conference has three teams in the mix, each of whom
are hoping to advance deep in their tournament to make sure they
don’t get left out when the Central Region invites are handed out.
Arkansas
Tech was in the pole position of the official regional rankings last
week, but the Wonder Boys had their 22-game win streak snapped in the
opening round of the tournament and were eliminated by a resurgent
Southern Arkansas club Monday. Meanwhile Arkansas-Monticello, a
school who went 0-37 just six years ago, has played themselves into
the GAC title game for the second year in a row. No matter the
outcome of the final tournament game, the Boll Weevils should receive
recognition for an amazing season, and Head Coach John Harvey should
clear some space on his wall for a heap of coaching awards for the
season UAM has put together.
Four
teams dropped out of the rankings, which is never good news,
especially this time of the season. St. Cloud State looked like a
lock for the extended postseason a few weeks ago, but the Huskies may
now need to take the NSIC Tournament title if they are going to
continue playing. Florida Southern held the last spot in the rankings
last week, but lost their final series to put their postseason hopes
in limbo as well. Texas A&M Kingsville and Seton Hill also fell
out of the top 25, but both clubs should still hear their names
announced Sunday nonetheless.
Joining
the rankings are Millersville, Augustana, Franklin Pierce and
Shepherd. The Marauders have been playing good ball all season and
were the runner-ups in the PSAC Tournament. Augustana essentially
took conference-mate’s SCSU’s spot by virtue of a double-header
sweep. Franklin Pierce edged Southern New Hampshire for a second team
from the East Region in the rankings and Shepherd gets the final spot
after winning the new Mountain East Conference regular season.
RK |
Prev. |
Team |
Mascot |
Overall |
Week |
1 |
1 |
Tampa |
Spartans |
47-2 |
2-0 |
2 |
2 |
Lander |
Bearcats |
43-6 |
0-0 |
3 |
3 |
Minnesota State |
Mavericks |
40-7 |
3-0 |
4 |
4 |
Delta St. |
Statesmen |
38-10 |
3-1 |
5 |
5 |
Mount Olive |
Trojans |
40-11 |
0-0 |
6 |
7 |
St. Edward's |
Hilltoppers |
36-12 |
2-1 |
7 |
8 |
Colorado Mesa |
Mavericks |
37-10 |
3-1 |
8 |
6 |
Chico State |
Wildcats |
37-11 |
2-2 |
9 |
9 |
West Florida |
Argonauts |
34-10 |
3-1 |
10 |
11 |
Southern Indiana |
Screaming Eagles |
39-9 |
4-1 |
11 |
12 |
Columbus St. |
Cougars |
36-14 |
0-0 |
12 |
10 |
Arkansas Tech |
Wonder Boys |
42-10 |
1-2 |
13 |
13 |
USC Aiken |
Pacers |
36-14 |
1-1 |
14 |
14 |
Lynn |
Fighting Knights |
34-14 |
1-1 |
15 |
15 |
Wilmington (DE) |
Wildcats |
32-7-1 |
1-0 |
16 |
16 |
Grand Valley St. |
Lakers |
33-11 |
6-0 |
17 |
17 |
Arkansas-Monticello |
Boll Weevils |
36-14 |
3-1 |
18 |
21 |
Drury |
Panthers |
37-11 |
4-0 |
19 |
19 |
Southern Arkansas |
Muleriders |
36-17 |
2-1 |
20 |
24 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
Broncos |
31-13 |
1-0 |
21 |
NR |
Millersville |
Marauders |
36-14 |
2-1 |
22 |
20 |
Georgia College |
Bobcats |
33-14 |
1-2 |
23 |
NR |
Augustana |
Vikings |
36-14 |
3-0 |
24 |
NR |
Franklin Pierce |
Ravens |
34-15 |
2-1 |
25 |
NR |
Shepherd |
Rams |
37-10 |
4-0 |
Dropped out: St. Cloud St (18), Texas A&M Kingsville (22), Seton Hill (23), Florida Southern (25)