What a crazy week of DII baseball. Power 10 teams like Westmont and North Greenville each lost series, while Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba just keep winning. There has been a shift in the Power 10, but Tampa remains locked in No. 1, having yet to relinquish its top spot this season.
DII BASEBALL 2025
馃搳&苍产蝉辫;The previous Power 10
馃敭&苍产蝉辫;Wayne's way-too-early guesses on the eight for Cary
馃弳&苍产蝉辫;Tampa looks to set the record for most DII baseball championships
This DII baseball season is perhaps the most intense since these Power 10 rankings began more than half a decade ago. Tampa is seemingly in a league of its own. Not much separates teams ranked Nos. 2 through 7, and then the teams ranked Nos. 8 through 20 are almost interchangeable. This has made for walk-off wonders, thrilling "upsets," and exciting baseball to the final out鈥攂ut it is nearly impossible to rank accurately.
But I carry on and try. The Power 10 rankings aren't simply a matter of selection committee metrics, although they are strongly considered. There is no voting group to tell me I may be wrong, just me, stats and a whole mess of notes from talking to coaches and watching baseball. As I've noted before, but deems repeating, no sport is as long as college baseball. It ends after softball and spans five months, with most teams playing four to five games a week. Wins and losses take on a different look 鈥 expecting a team to sweep every weekend is simply irrational. So, who do you differentiate a field that is so tightly contested? That is what I try to explain below.
The DII baseball Power 10 rankings (Week ending March 23)
No. 1 Tampa | Previous: No. 1. Kudos to Albany State (GA) for its midweek win over the Spartans, but Tampa's sweep of 16-10 Embry-Riddle to keep its perfect record in the SSC keeps them locked in at No. 1. Per usual under long-time pitching coach Sam Militello, this is one of the best pitching staffs in DII baseball with a top 10 ERA, WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio. It's impressive 鈥 you can actually begin the debate about whether this team is actually better than last year's national champions.
No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne | Previous: 6. North Greenville lost two games this week, as did Central Missouri and Westmont. You know who didn't? The Bears are rolling, winners of five in a row. We are getting very close to April, and the Bears have yet to lose a weekend series this year, including a sweep of fast-rising Young Harris and a win over Coker. This is one of the most potent teams in DII, tops in home runs and slugging percentage, and a top 3 team in scoring.
No. 3 Angelo State | Previous: 5. The Lubbock Christian hiccup aside, the Rams have been unbelievably consistent in the run-scoring department this year, which is what makes them such a tough team to beat. This weekend, the Rams won their four-game series by a score of 47-12, which means the pitching is pretty solid as well. Jacob Guerrero has hit in all but two games this year, and his .491 batting average is top-5 in DII. He leads an offense that is No. 1 in batting average, on-base percentage and runs.
No. 4 UT Tyler| Previous: No. 8. This team is so good, we need to review their resume thus far. Swept Lubbock Christian, split with Angelo State and West Texas A&M and took three of four against St. Edward's (TX). All those teams were nationally ranked when they played them, and the Patriots have yet to lose a weekend series on the season. Talk about battle-tested. Drew Schmidt has hit in 32 of his 33 games played this season 鈥 seven of the games on his current 12-game hitting streak are multi-hit performances.
No. 5 Catawba | Previous: No. 4. The Indians had a big week, taking down Mount Olive in a midweek-er and then dominating Newberry in a sweep. They have played one of the toughest schedules in the Southeast Region and are 23-7 with 15 of those wins coming against teams with a winning record. Payne Stolsworth has been red-hot of late, going 3-0 while allowing just two runs with 14 strikeouts over his last three starts, earning Southeast Region pitcher of the week twice.
No. 6 Westmont | Previous: 3. This is where it gets really tricky, as a bevy of teams lost multiple games this week. And Westmont lost two stunners to Concordia (CA) 鈥 a sub-.500 ball club. So, I can see someone looking at that and thinking the Warriors are too high. But the truth is they are still the best team in the West and, despite these two shockers of a loss, they have dominated teams with a winning record.
No. 7 Central Missouri | Previous: No. 2. The Mules were another team that lost a couple of games this week, but it doesn't affect them too much. I'm still looking for that one starting pitcher to step up and dominate, especially with Conner Wolf still on the shelf. As long as Jacob Steele and Vance Tobol stay hot, even with Chase Heath out, the Mules should win ball games. They do have a brutal week ahead with a Washburn midweek contest and a three-game series against Fort Hays State.
No. 8 Millersville| Previous: First five out. The PSAC is brutally tough this year, and Millersville has been showing it may be the best of the bunch... for now. They have played one of the toughest schedules in DII baseball... and they are 18-3 on an 11-game winning streak. This is a big series against a very strong Shippensburg team this weekend, arguably the biggest of the still-young season. Starting pitcher Connor Blantz is a beast, pitching to a 3-0 record with a 2.22 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 28.1 innings.
No. 9 West Chester| Previous: First five out. The Golden Rams are the second of four PSAC teams to make the list. West Chester looked like it may fall out of the rankings dropping the first two of four to East Stroudsburg, but the Golden Rams bounced back and took the final two to stay in for now. Keep your eyes on Kyle Lazer 鈥 the righty's ERA is down 0.93 with a WHIP of 1.10 and more than a strikeout per inning.
No. 10 (tie) Minnesota State, Florida Southern| Previous: First five out, 10 (tied), respectively
Welcome to the Power 10, Mavericks. This is, on paper, the No. 1 team in the Central right now. They already have a resume full of signature wins against Wisconsin-Parkside and Grand Valley State and are undefeated in conference play thus far. Louis Magers is one of the best all-around players in DII, pitching to a 3-0 record and 1.50 ERA while hitting .356 with eight home runs.
Florida Southern just keeps winning, although we'll see if that holds true this weekend against No. 1 Tampa. They have a pair of real hitters in Mikey Scott and Grant Thoroman 鈥 both hitting over .400 鈥 and have balance on the pitching staff. This team can go far but plays in a tough region.
First five (ish) out (in alphabetical order)
The next five are just too close, so there are a few extra teams this week.
- Delta State. The Statesmen dropped a midweek-er but swept West Alabama with two games coming in shutout fashion. Drake Fontenot leads the GSC's best pitching staff, now 7-0 with a 0.64 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 55 strikeouts.
- East Stroudsburg. The Warriors slip out, but don't be fooled. They took a series against Southern New Hampshire and split with West Chester on consecutive weekends. The top 15-18 is very tight right now, and the Warriors can play with anyone.
- Grand Valley State. The Lakers just took another big series, this time against Parkside. They already have a strong resume with wins against ranked teams up and down the schedule. The starting rotation has been one of the best in all DII baseball from top to bottom.
- North Greenville. I can accept some boo birds here, because North Greenville is still good and losing a series to Young Harris is not a season-defining moment. However, the Trailblazers have lost consecutive weekend series, and that is the only reason they dip out of the Power 10 for the first time this season.
- Point Loma. The Sea Lions got back to their winning ways with a four-game sweep. Jake Entrekin hit another home run this weekend and now has 14 to go along with a .471 batting average.
- Seton Hill. The Griffins are off to an impressive start, but it should be noted that they have played one of the lesser SoS of these Power 10 teams. But, this pitching staff has been unbelievably good, combining for a 2.49 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, two of the best marks in the division.
- Young Harris. That was a big series win over North Greenville this past weekend and now have wins against the Trailblazers, North Georgia, Lee and UNC Pembroke in March. There's no rest in the Southeast though 鈥 the Mountain Lions have Mount Olive on deck.
