D2 Baseball Notes: Stories from the Week (2/6–2/12)
Second week of the season in the books, some more teams started this week.
Let’s recap the top story of each region.
Atlantic Region:
Millersville sweeps the weekend in last-minute schedule addition
The weather in Millersville was going to be nice this weekend by Northeast standards, so head coach Jon Shehan and staff scrambled to find an opponent or two to play. They got two opponents and played a 3-game set in which they swept. On Friday against Jefferson, the Marauders won 6–5 on a walk-off wild pitch. In the second game of a DH Saturday, Millersville scored 23 runs in a rout.
John Seibert went 7–12 over the weekend, including a 5–5 game in that 23 run game.
Central Region:
Two football games break out in back-to-back days.
In back-to-back games between Arkansas-Monticello (UAM) and St. Cloud State, it appeared they were playing football, as both games scored 40+ runs each. Eighty-seven runs total were scored in just a span of 48 hours.
Eighteen total pitchers were used in these two games, which is also the amount of home runs hit in these two games.
Kirk Woolf of UAM went 8–11 with 3 HR and 7 RBI.
John Nett of St. Cloud State when 8–13 with a HR, 3 2B, and 8 RBI.
East Region:
4 Straight Multi-Hit Games to start the season
Michael Pavelchak of Post University had a great weekend, going 11 for 18 (.611). He was a key cog in the Eagles’ 3–1 start. Matter of fact, Pavelchak had 2+ hits in each of the team’s first four games.
Midwest Region:
Hawks become first non-conference road opponent since 2010 to beat Tampa
The #20 Quincy Hawks were just one win away from going to its first World Series since 2017 last year, as they fell short in the Midwest Super Regional.
This season, ranked as the 10th toughest schedule in D2 Baseball, Quincy started their season against vaunted #3 Tampa in Tampa. Quincy left with a series win, the first non-conference team to do so since Southern Arkansas in 2010 and the sixth since 2010.
Two one-run victories were all it took over the weekend to upset the Spartans, as Gino D’Alessio led the way with a .455 batting average and Luke Napleton led the way with a 1.294 On Base Plus Slugging (OPS) with the go-ahead home run in Sunday’s game.
South Region:
Lynn sweeps the weekend vs. three different opponents, including back-to-back walkoffs
The Fighting Knights had a flair for the dramatics, as they defeated both Erskine and Young Harris on walkoffs over the weekend.
Cristian Otero walked it off for Lynn on Thursday by reaching on an error.
Shawn Dougherty walked it off for Lynn on Friday with a home run.
Southeast Region:
Lenoir-Rhyne takes 3 of 4 against a Top 10 team who appeared in the World Series last year
#16 Lenoir-Rhyne (LR)took 3 of 4 games against defending Midwest Region Champion and #9 ranked Illinois-Springfield (UIS), as the Bears’ head coach Chris Ramirez was the head coach at UIS prior to coming to LR.
Pitching was really the name of the game for Lenoir-Rhyne as they held UIS to just 9 total runs in their 3 runs. Last season, UIS was 6th in the country in runs per game at 10.
Jackson Reid and Joshua Lanham were both effective as part of the LR rotation, both going 5+, allowing 2 runs, and striking out 7+
A 4-Home Run Day
Kody O’Connor of UNC Pembroke went OFF in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday, going 6–6 with 4 Home Runs and 8 RBI! He homered in his final two at-bats. Incredible performance.
In the Southeast Region, four teams added wins to their unbeaten season so far, Belmont Abbey (8–0), Lincoln Memorial (7–0), North Greenville (7–0), and UNC Pembroke (6–0).
South Central Region:
Colorado Mesa hosts ranked team, sweeps them
#11 Colorado Mesa hosted a #14 ranked (per NCBWA preseason rankings) Azusa Pacific this weekend, and ended the weekend going 4–0, outscoring their opposition by 22 runs.
Their first game in a Friday DH was one in particular, where the Mavericks scored 9 runs in the first two innings, then scored another 9 runs in their final two innings to bat. Here’s the box score of that game.
Conrad Villafuerte and Julian Boyd were impressive in the first 4 games of the season, each tallying 9+ hits with 3+ extra base hits, 1 or more home runs, and 7+ RBI.
West Region:
Hawaii Hilo Continues to Impress
Just one week after beating #15 ranked Augustana 4 out of 5 games, Hilo swept (4th game cancelled due to weather) RV Northwest Nazarene (a regional team last year) to improve to a 7–1 record on the season.
Orlando Leon Jr. appeared in every game of the series in relief, going 3 2/3 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, and 3 strikeouts.
Cal St. San Bernardino has started out the season 7–0, setting a program record by winning its first 7 games of the season.
