D2 Baseball WRAP (April 17): Five Takeaways From This Weekend

The race for conference postseason berths in D2 baseball are coming down to the wire as some leagues enter the final week of regular season play before their tournaments begin. Click the arrow below or use your arrow keys to navigate through the five biggest storylines from this past weekend. [slidshow_break]

MIAA : Mules Walk It Off In Extras To Stay in First

After splitting the first two games of their three game series against BR-35 Missouri Southern on Saturday, BR-51 Central Missouri (25-10, 23-5 MIAA) walked off a winner as they defeated the Lions 5-4 in Warrensburg on Sunday.

Bennett Oliver’s homer to right field to lead off the bottom of the 10th capped a 2-1 series win for the Mules, who expanded their lead in the MIAA standings to three games over BR-16 Emporia State , BR-31 Washburn and BR-49 Missouri Western .

Missouri Southern (26-13, 16-12) won the opener 8-2 on Friday, but the Mules bounced back on Saturday with a 5-2 win.

Emporia State took two of three from BR-117 Northeastern State , Missouri Western swept their three game set at BR-135 Fort Hays State and Washburn swept BR-136 Lindenwood in their three game series.

The top eight teams qualify for the MIAA tournament, which begins on May 12 in St. Charles, Mo.

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GSC : West Florida Takes Command of First Place

BR-7 West Florida moved into sole possession of first place in the GSC standings, leaping over BR-19 Delta State on Sunday in the rubber game of their three-game series in Cleveland, Miss.

West Florida (28-13, 20-7 GSC) split Saturday’s doubleheader with Delta State (28-13, 19-8), winning the first game 7-6 while the Statesmen responded with a 6-3 win in the nightcap. The Argos, however, got two runs in the second inning and three runs in the seventh en route to a 6-1 win in Sunday’s contest.

By the time the dust settled on Sunday, five teams found themselves within two games of first place in the GSC standings. Delta State is now tied for second place with BR-29 West Alabama (30-11, 19-8), who completed a three-game sweep of BR-196 Shorter (13-28, 6-21). Both the Statesmen and Tigers are a game from first place.

BR-13 West Georgia (30-10, 18-9), who swept BR-33 Valdosta State (24-15, 15-10) in their three-game series, and BR-40 Alabama-Huntsville (28-15, 18-9), who swept BR-141 Mississippi College (13-26), are tied for fourth in the standings, both two games behind West Florida.

With two weekends remaining in regular season play, the jockeying for seeding in the GSC playoffs will be furious to say the least.

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CCAA : California Slugfest Between Cal Poly Pomona and Chico

Peter Bayer warming up for the Broncos! Almost time for first pitch at Scolinos Field. pic.twitter.com/1bo0X8XNtU

— Cal Poly Pomona Athl (@cppbroncos) April 17, 2016

If you like offense, then this weekend’s California Collegiate Athletic Association inter-divisional series between BR-23 Chico State and BR-62 Cal Poly Pomona would have been right up your alley.

After Saturday’s split, which saw 29 runs scored between the two teams, the Broncos blew Sunday’s game open with a six run seventh inning to take a 10-7 win over Chico State in the rubber game of their series in Pomona, Calif.

Cal Poly Pomona (24-13, 16-9 CCAC South) won Saturday’s opener 9-2 while Chico State (25-13, 15-11) bounced back in the nightcap with a 13-5 win.

With Sunday’s win, the Broncos move a full game (two games in the loss column) ahead of BR-66 UC-San Diego (26-13, 16-11) in the CCAC South. The Tritons swept their three-game set with BR-107 San Francisco State over the weekend.

Chico State, meanwhile, drops out of first place with the loss as BR-82 Cal State Dominguez Hills (26-11, 15-10) thumped BR-125 Cal State Los Angeles 18-9 in their series finale. Cal State LA swept Saturday’s doubleheader, winning 4-3 and 5-4, which allowed Chico State to move into first place.

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SAC : Down To Two For First Place

The race for the regular season title in the SAC is down to BR-24 Catawba and BR-18 Tusculum entering the final weekend of play.

Catawba (27-16, 15-6 SAC) won two out of three against BR-79 Carson-Newman over the weekend. The Indians won Friday’s opener 2-1 in 11 innings, then took the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader 7-5 before the Eagles salvaged a split with a 4-3 win in the nightcap.

Meanwhile, Tusculum (32-11, 14-7) swept their three game set against BR-91 Mars Hill . The Pioneers captured Friday’s opener 4-2, then swept Saturday’s doubleheader 6-3 and 9-0.

Catawba closes out SAC regular season play next weekend when the Indians travel to BR-63 Wingate for a three-game series while Tusculum hosts Carson-Newman. Should the two teams finished tied atop the standings, Catawba would earn the top seed after winning the season series over Tusculum (2-1 on March 2-3).

The top eight teams qualify for the SAC tournament, which begins April 28 in Kodak (Sevierville), Tenn.

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PSAC : East Virtually Clinched; West, Not So Much

Baseball Finishes Off Weekend Sweep Of UPJ https://t.co/vZMm6vUmO5

— Mercyhurst Lakers (@HurstAthletics) April 17, 2016

BR-9 Millersville (35-3, 18-2 PSAC East) all but clinched top seed in the PSAC East with a four-game sweep over BR-96 Bloomsburg over the weekend. The Marauders, who boast a 12 game win streak following this weekend’s action, hold a five-game lead over BR-39 East Stroudsburg and BR-106 West Chester atop the division and can clinch first place outright as early as next weekend.

The PSAC West, however, is very much up for grabs, as four teams are within striking distance of the divisional title.

BR-45 Mercyhurst (28-9, 16-4 PSAC West) swept a four-game series with BR-184 Pitt-Johnstown to take a two-game lead over BR-52 Seton Hill and BR-137 California (Pa.) . Seton Hill, which took three of four games in their weekend series against BR-234 Clarion , and California, who split their four games series vs. BR-218 Indiana (Pa.) , are tied for second place, two games behind the Lakers.

BR-114 Gannon , whose Friday doubleheader at BR-214 Slippery Rock was postponed until Monday, sits in fourth place and, following their Saturday doubleheader sweep of The Rock, could move into the second place tie a pair of wins at The Rock.

The top four teams from each division qualify for the PSAC tournament, which begins May 8 in Butler, Pa.

D2 Baseball WRAP (April 17): Five Takeaways From This Weekend

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