D3baseball.com Daily Dose

In this final edition we look at the Mideast, Central and Midwest conference tournaments. Don’t forget that all playoff information as we get it will be in Playoff Central. The regional sites are as follows:

The Mideast Regional will be hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at Art Nehf Field, Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Central Regional will be hosted by Augustana College at Brunner Field at Duane R. Stadium in Rock Island, Illinois.

The Midwest Regional will be hosted by UW-Oshkosh at E.J. Schneider Field, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Number one seeded Mount St. Joseph will host the HCAC tournament that starts this Thursday as the Mount gets Transylvania for the first game. Transylvania came out of the blocks quickly and faded towards the end of the season. but still has the best overall winning percentage of the tournament field. Game two will feature Rose-Hulman and Franklin. The incentive for Rose-Hulman is that if they can advance, their regional will be a home series as they host the Mideast regional on their own field. All four teams had nearly the same record with just 1.5 game separating Transylvania for Mount St Joseph. Anyone can win and to advance but you have to do just that - win the tournament as Pool C hopes are slim for all.

There is no tournament for the MIAA so the regular season winner advances to the playoffs. Adrian has a single game advantage over Calvin with the end of the season just few days away. Adrian could clinch a playoff spot today, otherwise the playoff spot will be decided on Thursday, the last day of the regular season. The Pool C hopes for both Adrian and Calvin are as good as the teams in the HCAC so the automatic bid is important for either team so they can continue their fine seasons.

The NCAC will get two teams in the playoffs. Wooster, losers to Ohio Wesleyan last weekend will slip in with a Pool C bid and Denison will host Ohio Wesleyan as the two teams battle it out for conference playoff spot. Ohio Wesleyan split the series meeting between the two teams but Denison had the better record of these two west division teams.

Marietta was the favorite going into the 2008 OAC season. The Pioneers stumbled early and but are playing as well as anyone now. The story for this season is Heidelberg. Heidelberg will host the 2008 OAC Baseball Tournament Thursday-Saturday May 8-10 at Peaceful Valley in Tiffin, Ohio. Heidelberg finished the season at the top of the standings with a 15-3 mark to become the regular-season champions. Heidelberg gets Mount Union, whom they swept this season, in the opening round while Marietta will play Otterbein. Heidelberg should be relaxed as they are a possible Pool C candidate if they lose the tournament, although they still need a good showing to impress the committee. For all others winning is all that remains of their seasons.

The 2008 PAC Baseball Tournament will be at Thomas More College where on Thursday #4 Grove City will play #1 Thomas More and #3 Thiel gets #2 Westminster in the late game. This is the first year for the PAC to have an automatic bid and all four teams need to know this is their only way into the playoffs.

Illinois Wesleyan, the 12th ranked team in the D3baseball.com poll, earned the right to host the CCIW tournament for the second straight season after taking two of three from seventh-ranked Carthage in the final series of the year to win the regular season championship. Home field advantage did not help the Titans a year ago as they were eliminated at home in the conference and regional tournaments. The Titans will get surprise Wheaton in the opener. After beginning the season with 29 straight wins, Carthage closed with three losses in its final four conference games and is 3-4 in the last seven games. Augustana, ranked 14th, is vying for a Pool C slot and the right to play at home in the NCAA Tournament and meets Carthage in the opener. Wheaton has had a surprising season, winning 12 conference games to place fourth. The Thunder are making their first ever tournament in appearance and took a game in the regular season from both Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan. Winning the tournament is the only chance for Wheaton. Otherwise Augustana, Carthage, and Illinois Wersleyan all are sitting pretty for a Pol A and two Pool C bids.

The six-team IIAC conference tournament will be played on a neutral field at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, the home of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Wartburg ran away with the regular season IIAC crown. The Knights won 17 games en route to their 12th straight title. Wartburg overcame a 6-9 start to finish 23-12. Simpson improved in their second season under Ben Blake to finish second by a game over Coe. Wartburg and Simpson receive a first round bye. Wartburg gets the winner of Luther and Loras while Simpson faces the Coe-Central victor. With no teams in the regional rankings and neighboring conference CCIW doing well, a tournament win is what is needed to play past next weekend.

The NATHC is going to wait one more season for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but there is more than one team vying for a potential Pool B bid at the tournament this weekend played at Rockford’s home field, Road Ranger Stadium. Benedictine and Rockford shared the regular season crown, but Concordia (Ill.) also won 20 games in addition to the top two seeds. Benedictine is the top seed by virtue of their sweep over Rockford. The Eagles will face Concordia (Ill.), who just weeks ago was in the Top 25. Benedictine swept a pair of 9-8 decisions from Concordia earlier this year. Rockford faced Marian, who won the tie-break with Aurora for the final slot in the tournament. With so many Pool B teams on the bubble, tournament wins will be key to advancing.

It was a new year but the same story in the SLIAC as Webster captured its second straight title. The Gorloks finished 21-3 in conference and are looking for their fourth straight NCAA berth. They made some noise last season with an upset of Illinois Wesleyan in regional play. Webster opens with fourth seeded Greenville while Westminster (Mo.) takes on Maryville in the other semifinal. The path to the playoffs clearly sits with a tournemant win.

In the MIAC, No. 1 seed St. Thomas (29-7) appears to be in good shape for at least a Pool C bid, barring a two-and-done effort in the tourney to be held May 9-11. Even in that worst-case scenario, the Tommies, could limp in. No. 2 St. Olaf (25-10), which still has one regular-season game to play on Wedneday, has some work to do. Although not in the current regional rankings, the Oles are 19-6 in-region heading into today’s game and could move into the last published rankings in Stevens Point’s place. St. Olaf and St. Thomas both received NCAA bids the past two seasons, but the Oles may need to at least make the MIAC finals to continue that streak, although they may need to win. Longshots Hamline (23-16) and Gustavus (20-16) round out the 2008 MIAC field.

The MWC tournament will feature St. Norbert (24-9) and Ripon (25-8) from the North Division and Monmouth (9-22) and surprise host Knox (11-22) from the South for the MWC Pool A bid on May 9-10 in Galesburg, Ill. As the records indicate, Ripon and St. Norbert are the overwhelming favorites. Ripon has won the past four MWC tourneys and eight of the last 10. Ripon has also made eight NCAA appearances in the past nine seasons. St. Norbert won the 2003 MWC tourney and the last two regular-season titles, but the Green Knights have never made an NCAA appearance. A tournament winn will be needed to make the NCAA tournament since neither Ripon nor St. Norbert were in the latest regional rankings.

In the non-Pool A UMAC, all eyes are on St. Scholastica (29-4), which is in the Pool B hunt after winning the conference regular-season title for the 12th straight year. St. Scholastica, ranked No. 5 in the Midwest Region is looking for its 12th consecutive UMAC Tournament crown when it hosts on May 8-10 in Duluth, Minn. A three-game sweep at the UMAC tournament could be St. Scholastica’s ticket to the NCAA tournament. Anything less than a St. Scholastica three-game sweep of the UMAC tournament would be shocking considering CSS is the winningest D-III team in the 2000s with a 289-66 (.814) record. The Saints have also faired well against regionally ranked teams this season, registering wins over Oshkosh, St. Thomas, Juniata, Alvernia and Elizabethtown.

Like every year since 2000, the WIAC tournament has the usual suspects fighting for the Pool A bid: No.1 seed UW-Whitewater (33-6), No. 2 UWQ-Oshkosh (28-7) and No. 3 UW-Stevens Point (25-14). UW-La Crosse (19-18) is the fourth invitee to the annual heavyweight slugfest to be held May 9-10 in Wisconsin Rapids. The Big 3 are all in the region’s current top four, but the WIAC has not received three NCAA bids in the same season since 1998. History suggests that one of the perennial Big 3 may stay home this year, especially given Steven Point’s late-season struggles. If Whitewater or Oshkosh fail to make the finals, their postseason hopes could be in jeopardy despite high regional rankings. Stevens Point may fall from the regional rankings after losing four of its last six games and perhaps needs to make the finals for Pool C consideration. La Crosse must win it all.

In the next two weeks my staff and I will be previewing the playoff implications that the tournament season will bring. This week we look at the West and South regions.

The West Regional will be coming to Abilene, TX and McMurry University’s Walt Driggers Field after a five-year stint at W. O. Hart Park in Orange CA. Chapman has enjoyed the friendly confines of its home field, but is not a stranger to Driggers Field. The South Regional moves around and is in a new location this year. Hosted by USA South Athletic Conference/ODAC the rtegiuonal will be played at American Legion Memorial Post 325 Stadium-Dan Daniel Park in Danville, Virginia.

Chapman has done well in the West Regionals over these last five years, having put back-to-back-to-back regional titles in its trophy box joining the 2003 National Championship Walnut and Bronze. The Panthers look to be a lock as a Pool B teams and probably the #1 seed. Key wins this season include taking two of three from McMurry, Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer and two wins over Kean to go 28-3. Coach Tom Tereschuk has seven games remaining including West Region games versus Cal State East Bay, Menlo and University of Dallas.

The SCIAC does not have a post-season tourney so the Pool A (Automatic Qualifier) bid is on the line going into the last two weekends. Pomona-Pitzer (26-5 overall/ 13-2 conference) has 3-game series with Cal Lutheran and La Verne and control their destiny. Redlands is currently in second place at 13-4 and 25-11 overall, but with two losses to Pomona-Pitzer. Redlands won the series with La Verne in early March and finish with the three game series with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The La Verne Leopards are still in contention for the SCIAC crown, but need help from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. La Verne is 10-4 on the season, plus a suspended game with Cal Lutheran from March. The Leopards need to sweep both Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer series.

The Northwest Conference also does not have a post-season tourney. Conference leaders Linfield (23-4 in conference) and George Fox (20-5 in conference) meet in Linfield for a 4-game series next weekend for the Pool A bid. The “national media story line” is watching former New York Yankee and Head Coach Scott Brosius to see if he can return Linfield to the throne room.

The American Southwest Conference is a gigantic mess. This 15-team conference determines it Pool a bid by a post-season tourney. Next weekend, the #1 and #2 seeds in the East (Texas-Tyler and Mississippi College) and the West (McMurry and Concordia-Texas in Austin) host the #3 and #4 teams in best 2-of-3 crossover play. Those winners will play at McMurry, the #1 West Seed, in a double elimination format. Texas-Tyler won the East with a 15-3 record, but the West saw a four-way tie among McMurry, Concordia-Texas, Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor at 14-7.

The SCAC held their 8-team crossover tourney in Millington, TN this weekend. Only SCAC-East #1 DePauw survived from the East, taking 2 of 3 from SCAC-West #4 Austin. SCAC-West #1 Trinity and #2 Southwestern swept Oglethorpe and Centre, while #3 Millsaps beat Rhodes (East #2) 2 of 3. The SCAC tourney will be double elimination at Centre in Danville, KY next weekend.

The CAC will not get an automatic bid but Salisbury (36-2) is all but confirmed with a pool B bid with the CAC regular season and tournament title. Mary Washington (24-12) and Wesley (24-11) will have an outside shot at a bid. Mary Washington has the better conference record and a win against Salisbury than Wesley and if a second CAC team is in the playoffs, they should be it.

The USA South has completed their season and Christopher Newport in as the Captains won both the regular season and the tournament, Second place in both the regular season and the tournament is N.C. Wesleyan (27-13-1). They will be looking for a pool C bid. Greensboro and Methodist, with 25 win seasons could find themselves at home come playoff season.

The GSAC has not sent a team to the playoffs before and this seems to be the year if Piedmont (29-9) can make a statement and win their conference tournament. Starting Friday, the match-ups are: #4 Maryville vs. #1 Piedmont and #3 LaGrange vs. #2 Huntingdon.

In the ODAC, Lynchburg clinched the regular season title this week and with the tournament in Lynchburg, the Hornets should have the edge for the ODAC’s automatic bid. Starting Thursday, the schedule of this double elimination tournament will be: GAME 1: #1 Lynchburg vs. #6 Hampden-Sydney; GAME 2: #2 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #5 Washington and Lee ; GAME 3: #3 Randolph-Macon vs. #4 Bridgewater. To advance to the playoffs, a win is needed this weekend. Lynchburg might have a record good enough to get them in without with a Pol C bid, but for all the others is is win or stay home.

Will Emory (25-10-1) get a pool B bid? They have put themselves into position but remain on the bubble. They are probably the 6th best team in nation playing in a conference without an automatic bid. I expect to see the Eagle in the playoffs to see if they can better their second place finish last year.

The season is starting to come to a close as there is just a month until the playoffs. Yes it Tournament time and for the next four weeks, nearly all conferences will be determining who they will send to the playoff with their automatic bid.

By this weekend, we will have two playoff teams identified one from the SCAC and the other from the USA South as they have their tournament this weekend. The CAC have started their tournament but the CAC does not have an automatic bid. Salisbury has all but punched their ticket and a tournament win for either Mary Washington or Wesley will be useful in getting a second CAC team into the playoffs.

The USA South tournament kicks off on Thursday with four games in the double elimination tournament. Christopher Newport is the number one seed and will play in the late game against the winner of Methodist and Shenadoah game. The USA South has good teams from top to bottom so if your near Burlington, N.C. you should try to see some of the games this weekend.

On Friday, the SCAC tournament kicks off with Rhodes playing Millsaps. Depauw, seeded first in from the east, plays Austin. The top seed from the west, Trinity (Texas) will play Oglethorpe.

It is not surprising to see a cancellation or postponement in the early spring. The blog here at D3baseball.com is going to be experience some maintenance in the next few days and my weekly blog has been postponed. I’ll be back in a few days to report on stat leaders. A second reason for my postponement is that I had hoped to see the first national stats at ncaa.org today. Like everyone will have to wait a few more days for the NCAA to get the first D-III baseball stats online.

Now that I have a little more time, I will be traveling where I’ll be catching up with UW-Oshkosh alumnus Jarrod Washburn. Look forward to my interview in the weeks to come.

I hope everyone is getting out to the diamond. Baseball is best when viewed from the stands.

With both polls out for the first time, there is some debate about the differences. As the top teams keep winning, the differences will become smaller over time. If the D3baseball.com poll is a predictor - then these could be the regional champions (highest ranking regional team): Trinity (Conn), Cortland State, New Jersey, Salisbury, Wooster, Carthage, UW-Oshkosh, and Chapman. From the ABCA/CB poll you get Keene State, Cortland State, Kean, Piedmont, Wooster, Carthage, UW-Oshkosh, and Chapman. Probably neither is entirely correct but either way the championship round would be exciting with either line up. The best news is that there is a lot of baseball yet to play and like most sports, the national champions is decided by a teams play, not their standing in either poll.

There are a lot of key match-ups this weekend. Two stand out as the winner this weekend will have the inside track for their conference regular season championship. On the west coast, Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands have been at top of the SCIAC for nearly the entire season. This weekend, Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands square off in a series that potentially could give either the SCIAC championship. In a key Little East match-up, Eastern Connecticut and Keene State play a doubleheader on Saturday on the opposite coast. This is the time for the Owls need to make a statement that they will be the top dog in the LEC. It is also time for Eastern Connecticut to shed a mediocre start to the regular season and start on their road back into the the national polls. This is the conference opener for both teams.

With the D-III baseball season half over and we have just two undefeated teams (with at least 5 games played) left in Carthage and Trinity (Conn). Carthage has won 30 of their last 32 games with their only losses at the championship round. Trinity (Conn) is the other undefeated team having survived a scare on Tuesday. The longest winning streak of the season applies to neither. Salisbury started the season with a 5-4 loss to Virginia Wesleyan in ten innings and have won 18 games in a row. A little luck in that first game and they could also be undefeated.

The NCAA will release stats for D-III players on 1 April. With the start of April it is time to start thinking about the end of the season All-American teams. Who would you like to nominate for a D3baseball.com All American? I will be accepting nomination through the end of April before the balloting cycle starts. Just post who you think should be considered and why.

This week I want to talk about the Top 25 poll. The poll exists for several reasons. I believe that it is expected and probably more importantly, I felt the ABCA poll started too late in the season and needed to come out more than once twice a week. In cooperation with the NCWBA, voters were identified and with our preseason poll in January, the D3baseball.com.NCBWA Poll was born.

The start date was set to be the last weekend in February to capture most of a month of games in the South and West regions. By the last weekend in February, eight teams in the preseason poll had seen action. The number of teams playing have increased until this week (Week 4) where just a few teams have yet to see action due to a late spring break or a canceled game or two. I expect every team to have played a game by the end of next week.

The weekly voting starts after the games on Sunday and a short list of about 80 teams (85 are low interest payday loanno fax payday advance loan1 hour payday loan,payday loan in 1 hour,1 hour loan paydaypayday cash loanapplication loan online paydayquick payday loanpayday loan ukguaranteed no fax payday loanaccount loan payday savings,no teletrack payday loan with savings account,account loan payday people savingsadvance cash loan online paydayloan payday store,payday loan store in chicago,alabama loan payday storehassle free payday loan,free loan payday,free payday advance loanno fax payday loanadvance fax loan no paydayadvance cash loan loan paydayquick low interest payday loan,fax loan payday quick,loan payday quickfast easy payday loancash loan payday tilconsolidate payday loan debt,consolidate debt loan paydaybad credit loan payday,account bad credit loan payday savings,bad credit loan loan no payday personalpayday payday loan cash advance loan,advance cash cash loan loan payday quick,advance cash loan paydaycash til payday loanno faxing instant payday loanquick cash payday loanonline payday loan serviceeasy payday loansavings account payday loanapproval guaranteed loan paydayno checking account required payday loan,no checking account payday loan,account checking loan no paydaypayday loan best rate,best loan payday,best payday loan siteez payday loansonic payday loaninternet payday loan law,internet payday loan,internet loan paydayemergency payday loanfax loan missouri no paydayloan milwaukee payday storecalculator loan paydaypayday loan on linepayday loan canadacalgary payday loan,calgary loan paydaycanada payday loan online,loan online payday,fast online payday loanloan payday uk,payday loan uk,payday loan in the ukcash advance payday loan softwareall payday loan in canada only,canada loan payday,canada loan manitoba payday winnipegonline no fax payday loanaccount bank loan no paydaypayday loan on line,line loan payday30 day loan payday,30 day payday loanloan until paydaycash central loan payday on the current list) is sent to each voter. Essentially the weekly summary has the records of each team, the record for the week and games played against other teams on this list. Teams on the list always include those teams who have received votes and teams with good records. Occasionally a team not on the summary list will receive votes but that is rare. I hope it is that I have identified all the possible candidates.

Each voter has their own system in identifying how to rank teams. My ballot from last week is below:

1. Chapman (15-2)
2. Wooster (9-1)
3. Texas-Tyler (19-3)
4. New Jersey (9-2)
5. Cortland (5-2)
6. Salisbury (11-1)
7. Wisc-Oshkosh (3-0)
8. Carthage (3-0)
9. RPI (7-1)
10. Johns Hopkins (4-2)
11. Kean (9-3)
12. Augustana (9-2)
13. Otterbein (0-0)
14. Piedmont (16-3)
15. Trinity (Conn) (3-0)
16. Linfield (14-3)
17. Pomona-Pitzer (15-3)
18. Transylvania (9-1)
19. Ripon (8-1)
20. Redlands (14-6)
21. Christopher Newport (14-4)
22. Widener (12-2)
23. The University of the Ozarks (18-3)
24. Wesley (15-3)
25. Concordia (Ill) (9-1)

Twenty-one of my votes come from teams with a winning percentage of at least .750. Those four teams with records less than .750 include: Otterbein who is the lone team on my ballot without a game played; Cortland, Johns Hopkins, and Redlands all lost games and the more games they lost, the farther they dropped but started in the top half of the poll in Week 3. The eight teams I dropped from Week 3 were dropped also because they lost games but dropped off the top 25. Each of these teams were ranked no higher than 17th on my previous ballot. The only difference was St. Thomas. They won all their games last week but got squeezed out due to teams who I wanted to rank higher. The 25 teams I ranked are a combined 268-54 (.832)

When I actually started looking at teams to rank and I wanted to rank about 50 teams in my top 25. I was not alone in finding it difficult to reduce the list to just 25 teams. From that point I started looking for reasons not to consider a team. This gave me a shorter list but left me trying to decide which team has had the better season. I used my previous ballot as a guide since I used the same process the week before. As I moved teams up and down, I eventually came up with my list of the best 25. In just a few cases, you have games played against common teams to help guide who is ranked higher but these are not as common as one would like. I am kidding you to say that position Linfield and Pomona-Pitzer are in cannot be switched but I am comfortable in the knowledge is that this the place in the poll where I think they should appear. If I had a 26th vote, my vote would be for either St. Thomas (6-2) or Calvin (8-1).

Seven teams I ranked did not make the top 25. This is not unusual since more than half of the teams that received votes did not end in the top 25. The one thing I notice as the votes roll in, the top 25 becomes more and more stable. When the last vote is cast, there are just a few changes, if at all in the order of the top 25. The last thing to remember is that a poll is an opinion (with knowledge) and as such is an attempt to answer the question: Who is the best team? The ultimate decision on who is the best team for the season is decided where it should be - on the field.

Another week gone and by the time I come back, Everyone should have a game under their belts. I was able to listen to a few games this week, thanks to those radio stations that stream their audio on the internet. I was listening to what has to be the comeback of the year so far as Texas-Tyler came back from a 8 run deficit in the 6th to win. This is just an example of the never quit attitude of some teams. You certainly could see it in Salisbury when Montclair State has a 7-2 lead and lost the game in the 13th. NC Wesleyan scored three runs in the last of their inning on Sunday but fell one run short in a 6-5 Greensboro win.

What is happening with the homerun this season. Seth Kivett already has the 7, the same number the Methodist team hit all season. Drew Hedman, Pomona-Pitzer has hit 13, Tom Williams, Concordia and Kyle Stalker, Willamette have 11. Andrew Blomberg, Claremont-Mudd-Scripts is only second in their conference with 10. In the ASC, Derek David hit his ninth yesterday for second place. There seems to be an explosion of homeruns this year. The league lead last year was Brett Thomas with 14 and that will certainly be surpassed this season as Hedman only needs one more to tie Thomas.

Enjoy the games..and as Ernie Banks said - “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame… Let’s play two!”.

The season is finally settling in. For a month I have been watching the southern and western team play seeing a few teams from other regions start their season. Every region now is coming to life. There has been a slew of games in the Metrodome in Minneapolis giving the Midwest and Central teams an alternative to waiting for spring break. Last week two-thirds of the teams were in action and more this week. There are a few teams that will hold out until mid March but this week is the first real action across the board this season.

With many of the conferences in play, there are POTW for many. This must mean that the NCBWA Player and Pitcher of the Week will be announced starting next week if the past is any guide.

A glance at the latest D2baseball.com/NCBWA poll shows only one team that has started to play and not have a loss. This is No. 5 Johns Hopkins who started their season yesterday with a 13-2 win. Last week was one to forget for many of the top teams. No. 16 Marietta dropped 2 to No. 22 Piedmont, giving Piedmont enough support to make the top 25. No. 11 Kean stumbled against Manhattanville who needed late inning runs to secure their their wins against the defending national champions. No. 1 Chapman was able to keep their top spot and No. 18 Redlands was able to move up after Chapman defeated Redlands twice in three games. Adrian certainly got noticed and appear in the list of having received votes based on their victories against No. 9 Emory and Piedmont. Looking through this weeks top 25, the only team that played last week and did not lose was No. 8 Texas-Tyler.

The games to watch this week are with No. 12 Wheaton (Mass). They take on No. 13 New Jersey on the 8th and then have two games against No. 3 Cortland State on the 9th and 11th. Nobody has a tougher week. In the middle of the country the key match-up is No. 24 Luther vs No. 10 Wisc-Oshkosh. The UAA tournament gets going on Monday and continues through the following Saturday (March 11-15).

I hope everyone can get out and see a baseball game. Still snow on the ground here but spring is in the air.

Our first regular season poll is out and we are working on making schedules available. Congrats to Mary Hardin-Baylor, Redlands and NC Wesleyan for appearing in the Top 25 for the first time. Come to think about it it is everyone’s first time for the regular season poll.

Pacific University in Oregon played their second tripleheader in four seasons, just the second school to have played two in their schools history. The Boxers played Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday as the two teams were forced to play after rain scrubbed a single nine-inning game that was scheduled the day before. Pacific won the first
game 5-2, but then dropped the second and third games to the Sagehens by
finals of 7-4 and 7-5. All three games were seven innings. Pacific’s other tripleheader took place on Apr. 4, 2005, when Pacific played three against Puget Sound.

Our games to watch this week has two games on the radar. The first is at No. 3 Kean where No. 9 Eastern Connecticut comes in to play the Cougars. The second, for a different reason is the game that never got played last year. Bluffton takes on Eastern Mennonite on the one year anniversary of the Bluffton bus acident.

A couple of other good early season games are played every day. Stevens plays No 3 Kean today. For a couple of up and coming teams, York and St. John Fisher square off on Thursday. Friday and Saturday No 1. Chapman takes on No. 19 Redlands. Linfield travels to No. 18 Pacific Lutheran this weekend for two key NWC games. No. 23 NC Wesleyan also has a key conference match-ups with Christopher Newport this weekend. Ozarks, off to their best start ever, will host No. 22 Mary Hardin-Baylor for a three game series starting Friday.

As I started to write this blog D3baseball.com was only 500 hits from hitting the million mark. With that total cut in half as I end my weekly report, I want to thank all those who come to read and participate in our online discussions. D3baseball.com would not exist if the fans did not support all the web sites in the D3sports.com family.

An exciting time where in the D3baseball.com’s home office. Just fresh into our second year, tonight the last regional preview gets posted, and the new weekly poll gets its start next week. Like everyone else who has snow piling up outside, listening to a game or two on the internet was a good way to spend a holiday weekend (thanks to Washington and Lincoln).

It appears that everyone in the South and West regions are playing and getting in their games. A few Mid-Atlantic and New York region teams are venturing into warmer climes to get a game or two in on the weekends. By the end of Sunday, 29 the teams who received votes in our preseason poll will have ventured on to the diamond to face a D-III foe. Eight of those teams were ranked in the Top 25.

I have neglected to give my picks for the championship round until now. I am expecting Eastern Connecticut, Cortland State, Johns Hopkins, Rhodes (yeah even with their slow start), Wooster, Illinois Wesleyan, St. Thomas and Chapman. Ever since there were automatic bids, the championship round included one team made their first appearance. Rhodes is my pick for this team in 2008. If you look at the collective wisdom of the top-25 voters, you will see a different list: Eastern Connecticut, Cortland State, Kean, Emory, Wooster, Carthage, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Chapman. We will only know in May who is right. Who are you favoring for the final tournament of the year?