The 2012 D-III season is going into its fourth weekend with about 70 teams already getting some action in the early part of the season. More teams will have their openers as northern teams start making trips south. The hottest competition could be in Arizona as there are a number of teams piling up some early in-region wins playing in the Arizona sun.

It will be a tough weekend in Arizona for the Tornados.  They play 5-1 Cal Lutheran on Friday and two  days later it is 6-1 La Verne.  Needless to say these games will be important in April when folks start looking at the regional rankings. Linfield is also in Arizona and their toughest contest will be the Kingsmen from Cal Lutheran.

Looking easy of Arizona and you see undefeated Dallas and Austin playing a three game set.  With the longest current winning streak in 2012, the Crusaders could find themselves 9-0 heading into a key contest with Texas-Dallas.

Moving out to the east coast, there is good baseball where the best contest might be CNU and Cortland State. With both favored to capture regional titles, this could be a match-up we could see in Appleton on the final weekend of play. Another weekend game, CNU and Bridgewater (Va.), will match the favored team in both the USA South and ODAC.

Not to be overlooked is 5-0 Methodist. Three games against Frostburg State, Birmingham-Southern, and Lynchburg will go a long way to announcing the resurgence of the Monarchs. Methodist head coach Tom Austin is looking for his 1000th career win and it could be achieved in early March.

Speaking of 1000th wins, it was Salisbury that got their program’s 1000th win this week.  The Sea Gulls are now 1000-638-17 over 49 seasons. Salisbury will see Gallaudet before a game against Cortland this weekend.

Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Taylor Burrow had quite a week with the season’s first no-hitter. UMHB is 3-0 against D-III competition with their only losses coming against NAIA Texas Wesleyan.  They will have a better gauge on how good a team they have when they meet Trinity (Texas) later next week.

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The 2012 D-III baseball season is already two weeks old and teams across the South through Texas to the West Coast have seen action.

Three teams in the Top 25 have played a game.  No. 2   Chapman is 3-1 with a loss to the Whittier Poets.  Last year they lost two to Whittier and ended with a second place finish. “Fear the Beard” was a refrain when Christian Maietta took the mound in the Championship series but it was not to be last Sunday when Maietta took a hard loss.

No. 7 Christopher Newport used a pitching staff by committee in their first game, dealing 2-0 Hampden-Sydney their first loss of the season.  It was the offense that ruled the day with preseason All-American Connor Madden getting the big hit, a grand slam, among his four on the day.

No. 22 Trinity (Texas) is 2-0 with a sweep of Schreiner.  Ben Klimesh showed that he is going to defend his pitcher of the year award with a dominating effort on Sunday. Nick Pappas was the game 2 star.

Concordia (Texas)  3-0 record against Southwestern looks better than U Dallas’ three wins against East Baptist but both teams are off to great starts with key in-region wins. We will know more what Concordia (Texas) has when they face Trinity (Texas) this weekend.  Dallas should be 9-0 when they meet Texas-Dallas and then Trinity (Texas) at the end of February.

Methodist, a 3-0 starter against Roanoke but should see stiff competition this weekend with LaGrange.  The big early game for Methodist is Birmingham-Southern on Feb 18. I have that game circled on my watch list.

Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer have no losses and they are both expected at the top of the SCIAC race with 0-0 Redlands. Cal Lu and Pomona meet at the end of the week but the Kingsmen have a more difficult road with games against Concordia (Texas) and Linfield before a SCIAC showdown with the Sagehens.

The early part of the season is ripe for upsets but nothing can be further than the truth.  In all but a few cases, the teams expected to win have put the wins on the board.  Although the season is young, these early in-region wins will become more important in late April when they show up in the regional rankings.

Get outside and see some baseball.  Way up north it is feeling much like spring and nobody cannot be thinking about our national pastime.  After all, pitchers and catchers report in about a week as MLB spring training gets started in Florida and Arizona.

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These were the final rankings used by the NCAA in the selection process.

Central Region
1 Coe 29-9 32-10
2 Carthage 23-7 30-10
3 Illinois Wesleyan 24-13 26-16
4 Buena Vista 27-13 28-15
5 North Park 26-9 30-12
6 Washington U. 28-15 29-17

Mid-Atlantic Region
1 Kean 32-5 36-8
2 Rowan 27-8-1 30-11-1
3 Keystone 29-7 32-10
4 Alvernia 33-7 35-7
5 Frostburg State 25-10 28-13
6 Ramapo 26-11 30-12
7 Rutgers-Newark 19-15 23-19
8 New Jersey 20-10 25-12
9 Moravian 30-9 31-9

Mideast Region
1 Marietta 34-3 38-3
2 Heidelberg 29-11 33-11
3 Thomas More 27-7 28-7
4 Adrian 28-9 31-9
5 Franklin 24-9 29-12
6 Case Western Reserve 28-13 30-13
7 Manchester 22-12 28-15

Midwest Region
1 UW-Stevens Point 31-6 32-8
2 UW-Whitewater 31-11 32-11
3 St. Scholastica 28-3 35-5
4 Hamline 27-9 28-13
5 St. Thomas 25-11 27-16
6 Bethany Lutheran 24-10 27-10

New England Region
1 Tufts 20-3 26-7
2 Western New England 37-7 38-9
3 Wheaton (Mass.) 27-10 29-10
4 Eastern Connecticut 26-11 32-11
5 MIT 22-13 25-13
6 Bowdoin 20-13 24-14
7 Amherst 25-9 25-10
8 Keene State 27-12 29-14
9 Babson 25-13 25-13
10 Endicott 32-15 32-15

New York Region
1 Cortland State 29-4 33-8
2 Farmingdale State 25-11 26-15
3 Brockport State 24-10 27-12
4 St. John Fisher 23-8 25-10
5 Rensselaer 23-14 24-15
6 Skidmore 20-12 26-13

South Region
1 Christopher Newport 29-5 39-5
2 Shenandoah 30-5 34-5
3 Piedmont 29-11 31-13
4 Salisbury 26-10 29-11
5 Rhodes 23-17 24-20
6 Emory 24-13 26-17

West Region
1 Linfield 29-5 31-9
2 Chapman 20-9 29-11
3 Redlands 24-8 29-11
4 Trinity (Texas) 27-10 33-11
5 Texas-Tyler 30-6 33-6
6 La Verne 24-12 25-14

Regional rankings · selection sunday

The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has released its third 2011 regional poll, through games of Sunday, May 8.

The first record is regional record, followed by overall record.

Please note — the NCAA site originally had a different order for many of the regions. They have since been changed and the updated version is reflected below.

CENTRAL
1 Coe 26-9 29-10
2 Illinois Wesleyan 23-11 25-14
3 Carthage 19-7 26-10
4 Buena Vista 26-11 27-13
5 North Park 26-7 30-10
6 Augustana (Ill.) 21-12 28-12

MID-ATLANTIC
1 Kean 31-4 35-7
2 Rowan 27-8-1 30-11-1
3 Keystone 26-7 29-10
4 Alvernia 31-7 33-7
5 Frostburg State 25-10 28-13
6 Ramapo 25-10 29-11
7 Rutgers-Newark 18-14 22-18
8 The College of New Jersey 20-10 25-12
9 Moravian 30-9 31-9

MIDEAST
1 Marietta 31-3 35-3
2 Heidelberg 27-9 31-9
3 Adrian 28-7 31-7
4 Thomas More 24-7 25-7
5 Case Western Reserve 28-13 30-13
6 Grove City 21-11 21-14
7 Ohio Wesleyan 24-16 25-16

MIDWEST
1 UW-Stevens Point 29-6 30-8
2 UW-Whitewater 28-9 29-9
3 St. Scholastica 25-3 32-5
4 St. Thomas 21-9 23-14
5 Bethany Lutheran 22-8 25-8
6 Concordia (Ill.) 28-7 33-7

NEW ENGLAND
1 Tufts 16-2 22-6-1
2 Western New England 37-7 38-9
3 Amherst 24-7 24-8
4 Wheaton (Mass.) 27-10 29-10
5 Eastern Connecticut 23-9 29-9
6 Keene State 25-10 27-12
7 MIT 19-12 21-12
8 Bowdoin 16-9 20-10
9 Babson 25-13 25-13
10 Brandeis 21-14 24-17

NEW YORK
1 Cortland State 29-4 33-8
2 Brockport State 24-10 27-12
3 Farmingdale State 22-8 23-12
4 St. John Fisher 23-6 25-8
5 RPI 22-12 23-13
6 Skidmore 20-10 26-11

SOUTH
1 Christopher Newport 29-5 39-5
2 Shenandoah 30-5 34-5
3 Piedmont 29-11 31-13
4 Salisbury 25-10 28-11
5 Rhodes 23-17 24-20
6 Emory 24-13 26-17

WEST
1 Linfield 29-5 31-9
2 Chapman 20-9 29-11
3 Redlands 24-8 29-11
4 Trinity (Texas) 27-10 33-11
5 Texas-Tyler 30-7 33-7
6 La Verne 24-12 25-14

No tags

The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has released its first 2011 regional poll, through games of Sunday, May 1.

The first record is regional record, followed by overall record.

CENTRAL
1 Coe 22-9 24-10
2 Illinois Wesleyan 20-9 22-12
3 Buena Vista 19-11 20-13
4 Carthage 16-5 23-8
5 Augustana (Ill.) 14-11 21-11
6 WashingtonU. 28-15 29-17

MID-ATLANTIC
1 Kean 27-4 31-7
2 Rowan 24-6-1 27-9-1
3 Alvernia 30-5 32-5
4 TCNJ 20-8 25-10
5 Keystone 21-7 24-10
6 Ramapo 25-7 29-9
7 Moravian 29-7 30-7
8 Frostburg State 22-8 25-11
9 Rutgers-Newark 17-12 21-16

MIDEAST
1 Marietta 25-3 29-3
2 Heidelberg 24-8 28-8
3 Case Western Reserve 28-13 30-13
4 Adrian 25-6 28-6
5 Transylvania 17-6 21-8
6 Washington & Jefferson 16-9 18-14
7 Thomas More 22-6 23-6

MIDWEST
1 UW-Stevens Point 24-6 25-8
2 UW-Whitewater 24-7 25-7
3 St. Scholastica 20-2 27-4
4 Macalester 19-6 21-9
5 Hamline 19-7 20-11
6 Aurora 21-9 24-10

NEW ENGLAND
1 Tufts 16-2 22-6-1
2 Wheaton (Mass.) 25-8 27-8
3 Keen State 25-8 27-10
4 Western New England 31-6 32-8
5 Amherst 21-6 21-7
6 Eastern Connecticut State 21-7 27-7
7 MIT 19-12 21-12
8 Bowdoin 16-9 20-10
9 Babson 25-13 25-13
10 Brandeis 21-14 24-17

NEW YORK
1 Cortland State 26-3 30-7
2 Brockport State 21-8 24-10
3 Farmingdale State 21-8 22-12
4 St. John Fisher 22-4 24-6
5 RPI 19-11 20-12
6 Skidmore 18-7 24-8

SOUTH
1 Christopher Newport 29-5 39-5
2 Shenandoah 30-5 34-5
3 Piedmont 29-11 31-13
4 Salisbury 24-10 25-11
5 Rhodes 23-17 24-20
6 Emory 24-13 26-17

WEST
1 Linfield 27-5 29-8
2 Redlands 23-6 28-9
3 Champman 18-8 27-10
4 Trinity (Texas) 27-10 33-11
5 Texas-Tyler 30-7 33-7
6 Hardin-Simmons 27-11 31-12

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