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College  | Rankings  | 4/10/2024

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: April 10

Nick Herfordt     
Photo: Reed Raymond (Brielle Sovis)
The updated rankings include the top twenty-five teams in each of the three small school divisions; however, limiting the list to the standard count this week was extremely difficult. There were a solid number of clubs on the outside worthy of inclusion that simply couldn’t be overlooked. As a result, along with the updated Top 25, a special last-team-out gets a special mention - the unofficial 26th team.

NCAA DII
Rk School State Record Lst Week Prev Rk
1 Tampa Spartans FL 31-4 2-1 1
2 Central Missouri Mules MO 33-4 3-0 2
3 North Greenville Crusaders SC 29-8 3-1 4
4 Mount Olive Trojans NC 28-8 4-0 5
5 Millersville Marauders PA 29-5 4-0 6
6 Point Loma Sea Lions CA 27-8-1 1-1 3
7 Angelo State Rams TX 26-12 3-1 7
8 UNC Pembroke Braves NC 28-10 3-1 8
9 Young Harris Mountain Lions GA 28-9 3-0 10
10 St. Leo Lions FL 30-5 3-1 11
11 Missouri Southern St. Lions MO 30-9 2-1 12
12 Colorado Mesa Mavericks CO 23-11 2-2 9
13 Augustana Vikings SD 22-6 5-0 15
14 East Stroudsburg Warriors PA 28-3 4-0 16
15 Seton Hill Griffins PA 21-9 4-0 17
16 West Texas A&M Buffs TX 29-9 4-0 19
17 Ashland Eagles OH 24-5 4-2 14
18 West Florida Argos FL 23-14 2-3 13
19 Catawba Indians NC 29-9 4-0 20
20 Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes GA 27-11 2-2 18
21 Lee Flames TN 28-10 3-1 22
22 Lubbock Christian Chaparrals TX 27-11 4-0 23
23 North Georgia Nighthawks GA 25-11 4-1 25*
24 Lander Bearcats SC 26-11 4-0 25*
25 Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks ID 23-9-1 1-3 21
DROP Cal State Monterey Bay Otters CA

In 2019 Saginaw Valley State athletics vacated nearly 400 wins across eight sports due to violations regarding improper certification of their athletes. The losses included 78 baseball wins from 2013-18. However even without the vacated losses, the struggling team still wouldn’t have finished over .500 in any of the impacted seasons. Longtime college coach Steve Jaksa helped rehab the program starting in 2019, but he retired in 2022 to close out a memorable 45-year career.  Adam Piotrowicz, who had been an assistant at Western Michigan and Valparaiso, was selected by the hiring committee to take Jaksa’s place.

Jaksa’s hiring paid off immediately for SVSU. Last season the team finished with an overall record of 27-24, which was their most wins in a season since 2008. They also set new program records both pitching and hitting. On the mound Cardinals hurlers struck out 410 batters and at the plate they accumulated a new school high 23 triples.

This season the Cardinals are on the cusp of entering the Perfect Game DII Top 25 for the first time in program history. They have a 22-9 record and recently won three of five games against the GLIAC’s premier program as of late, Wayne State. The wins, along with another over the Warriors in late March, have SVSU securely atop the conference standings.

A big part of the team’s success this season has been two-way player Hayden Jatczak. Jatczak was the conference Freshman Player of the Year in 2021 and earned First Team All-GLIAC honors in 2022, but missed last season. He has been back with a vengeance this spring and is unquestionably one of the top players in the DII both at the plate and on the mound. At the plate, the 6’5”, 240 pound slugger is batting an astonishing .462 with 15 doubles and ten home runs. Those numbers have
helped him amass a .857 slugging percentage which puts him in the top ten nationally.  He is also the team’s top pitcher. In six starts this season he has a 1.72 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 31 ⅓ innings. He has only allowed 16 hits to limit opposition to a .145 batting average. In his first start of the season he threw the Cardinals first no-hitter since 1992 and nearly had a perfect game. In a second game that day he went 3-4 with a home run, triple and a stolen base.

While Jatczak has been the straw that stirs the Cardinals’ drink this season, there are a number of other players contributing significantly to their winning ways. They have three other players currently hitting over .400 which has the team batting a collective .342 which is good for fifth in the nation. Colin Cornwell, another seasoned senior, is hitting .447 with 17 extra base hits, Brandon Scheurer has a .421 in his fifth season with six triples and Reed Raymond currently has a .402 average. Also putting up big numbers is redshirt junior Austin Schweiger. He is hitting .385 with 10 doubles and five triples.

With such a prolific offense the pitching staff has been able to take it easy most games, but has shown they can step up when needed. Tyler McLaren was 8-1 with a 2.65 ERA last season with 74 strikeouts. Senior Nick Bastain has been solid in the bullpen since transferring from Rochester University. He has appeared in nearly 30 games over the past two seasons with a 3.35 ERA.

The Cardinals host a 9-22 Davenport team this weekend which should continue their winning ways and hold atop conference standings. If a team or two in the Top 25 falters, SVSU will likely be included in the rankings next week.


NAIA
Rk School State Record Lst Week Prev Rk
1 Southeastern Fire FL 32-5 3-1 1
2 LSU Shreveport Pilots LA 32-3 4-0 2
3 Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies GA 33-5 3-0 3
4 Cumberlands Patriots KY 32-5 2-1 4
5 William Carey Crusaders MS 25-10 3-0 5
6 Webber International Warriors FL 32-8 4-0 6
7 Faulkner Eagles AL 27-10 3-0 7
8 Missouri Baptist Spartans MO 26-8 3-0 9
9 Central Methodist Eagles MO 30-7 3-1 8
10 Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes KS 29-7 5-0 11
11 Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs TN 26-13 4-1 12
12 Loyola Wolf Pack LA 29-9 3-1 13
13 William Jessup Warriors CA 30-6 4-0 15
14 Reinhardt Eagles GA 26-11 4-0 14
15 Hope International Royals CA 27-9 4-0 16
16 Concordia Bulldogs NE 28-9 5-1 22
17 Doane Tigers NE 26-8 3-3 10
18 Benedictine Mesa Redhawks AZ 26-9 4-0 18
19 Bellevue Bruins NE 25-11 2-1 17
20 Tabor Bluejays KS 27-8 4-0 20
21 Lewis-Clark State Warriors ID 23-9 4-0 23
22 Taylor Trojans IN 27-11 4-0 24
23 Oklahoma City Stars OK 24-13 2-1 25
24 Ottawa (OUAZ) Spirit AZ 24-13 1-2 19
25 Freed-Hardeman Lions TN 30-10 4-0 NR
DROP Vanguard Lions CA

Northern Ohio started the season with an unimpressive 5-7 record, but showed they were a team with a dynamic offense that couldn’t be overlooked. Their early wins included a 25-3 drubbing of Indiana South Bend and 15-5 win over IU Kokomo on an early Sunday in February. After their first dozen games they’ve gone undefeated, winning 19 straight games for a 24-7 record headed into the week. Those wins include a perfect 15-0 conference mark which has them atop the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings.

Their winning ways have been fueled in large part by their explosive offense. They are hitting .338 as a team with 75 doubles and 95 stolen bases. Junior outfielder Darius Freeman’s .421 batting average and 26 stolen bases lead the team. Noah Matheson and Drake Miller are also putting up impressive stats. Matheson, who had been an elite hitter at Ivy Tech, has a .403 average, and Miller is making an impact after transferring from State Fair CC.  Matheson has also been excelling
defensively behind the plate and thrown out five of 11 would-be base stealers. However newcomer Joskar Feliciano has handled the majority of the innings behind the plate. Few teams have attempted the run on Feliciano who has excellent catcher genes - his uncle is MLB legend Yadier Molina. Feliciano can hit too. He is batting .351.

The pitching staff has been strong for UNOH as well.  It was reported in the offseason that Michael Joyce was much improved and to expect a big year from the senior.  The prediction was an understatement as he has only allowed 28 hits in 42 innings on the mound with 46 strikeouts. He is limiting opposition to a .185 batting average and has a tiny 1.07 ERA. Two of his five starts this season were complete game shutouts.  Will Myklebust, another Ivy Tech alum, has thrown well in his first year for the team. Opposition is only batting .234 against him and he has a 3.86 ERA over nine appearances which include three complete games. Eliott Traver and Jermey Yurcak have matching 1.80 ERA out of the bullpen. Traver, the team’s closer last season, has only allowed six hits over 15 innings. Yurcak has struck out 24 batters in 20 innings and only allowed 14 hits.

The Racers will be looking to extend their winning streak to two dozen with three doubleheaders this week. They host Siena Heights midweek and play Indiana Tech and Michigan-Dearborn over the weekend.


NCAA DIII
Rk School State Record Lst Week Prev Rk
1 Endicott Gulls MA 20-1 3-0 1
2 Salisbury Seagulls MD 20-5 1-0 2
3 East Texas Baptist Tigers TX 24-6 3-0 3
4 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays MD 17-6 3-0 4
5 Denison Big Red OH 21-2 2-0 6
6 Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets OH 20-4 2-1 7
7 Eastern Connecticut Warriors CT 18-5 4-0 10
8 UW LaCrosse Eagles WI 13-4 2-0 12
9 Salve Regina Seahawks RI 18-3 2-1 11
10 Montclair State Red Hawks NJ 23-4 5-0 17
11 Rowan Profs NJ 13-7 0-3 5
12 UW-Whitewater Warhawks WI 16-4 2-0 14
13 La Verne Leopards CA 17-6-1 2-1 13
14 Christopher Newport Captains VA 17-6 2-0 15
15 Lynchburg Hornets VA 18-9 1-2 9
16 Benedictine Eagles IL 17-3 1-1 16
17 Trinity Tigers TX 21-7 4-0 18
18 Shenandoah Hornets VA 19-8 1-2 8
19 Case Western Reserve Spartans OH 21-6 4-0 19
20 Aurora Spartans IL 18-5 4-0 20
21 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens CA 23-8 1-2 21
22 Cortland State Red Dragons NY 15-8-1 3-0 22
23 Misericordia Cougars PA 17-7 3-0 23
24 Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets VA 18-7 3-1 NR
25 Buena Vista Beavers IA 19-6 3-1 24
DROP Arcadia Knights PA

Cal Luthern got a very strong look for a spot in the rankings after they swept three games from Cortland earlier in season, but they dropped two of three the next week and were put on the back burner to see how they responded. They convincingly won their next three series, along with a win over Providence Christian to up their overall record to 19-6 and are third in the always competitive SCIAC behind #13 La Verne and #21 Pomona-Pitzer.

The CLU is the highest hitting team in the SCIAC with a .338 average. Troy Anderson and Lucas Danielewicz have been the most productive hitters so far this spring as the team looks to earn a third consecutive NCAA West Regional appearance. Anderson’s .390 average leads the Lutes, as do his four home runs. Danielewicz, an outfielder who previously played at Southern Illinois and Mesa CC, is batting .375 and tops the team with 13 extra base hits. Blake Wink, a graduate student who spent four seasons playing at Fresno State, is batting .370 with 11 stolen bases.  Gordon Richarson, who played sparingly his first four seasons on campus, is flourishing in a starting role. He is hitting .387 as the team’s leadoff hitter and center fielder.

The Lutes’ pitching staff has been solid all around with especially impactful performances by John Frazier and Frank Willus. Frazier is excelling as a senior starter with a 1.92 ERA over 56 ⅓ innings while holding opposition to a .218 average. Willis is just getting started with his college career. The freshman has made seven appearances out of the bullpen and struck out 20 batters in only 11 ⅔ innings.

CLU faces their toughest conference competition the next two weekends. They have a three games series with La Verne this week and another trio of contests against Pomona-Pitzer the next.
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