It’s safe to say that the college baseball swing is in full swing now that we have 2 full weekend of the NCAA D1 season behind us. Not taking anything away from the NAIA teams that will be playing their 5th weekend, but it is nice to have all of the Oklahoma squads have multiple weeks behind them.
NCAA D1
Oklahoma State at Astros Foundation College Classic
- Fri: OSU vs #3 Tennessee
- Sat: OSU vs #1 Texas A&M
- Sun: OSU vs #16 Mississippi State
It is safe to say that OSU has the toughest “series” of anyone this weekend. The Pokes struggled a little bit coming out of the gate losing 3 of their first 4 games (granted 2 of those games were to top 15 teams), but OSU has won their last 3 games vs UT Arlington and Abilene Christian while looking dominant.
As much as we praised OU for going 3-0 last week in Round Rock beating then #2 Virginia and #7 Oregon State, going 3-0 or even 2-1 this weekend will be more impressive.
Oral Roberts vs #16 Dallas Baptist
Last weekend we talked about how it seems if ORU wants to play anyone of significance they have to go on the road. The Golden Eagles went to Tempe, AZ and went 1-2 against the Sun Devils winning game 1 in dramatic comeback fashion.
This week, the Golden Eagles don’t have to go anywhere. They welcome the current #16 team in the nation in Dallas Baptist in what will be their toughest series of the season. The Patriots are consistently one of the best mid major teams nationally and they come into this series 6-2 on the year coming off a loss to #2 LSU on Wednesday.
ORU is 5-2 on the season so far after coming back from a 5 run deficit to beat Missouri State on Tuesday.
This will be a good litmus test to see where ORU is at this point in the season.
NCAA D2
It’s a weekend full of intrastate matchups in Division 2. The Great American Conference teams play their first weekend of games against each other while Rogers State and Northeastern State play each other.
ECU vs NWOSU
The Rangers are the only team in the GAC that is winless. ECU has shown that they are a better team than years past.
NWOSU was the highest Oklahoma school ranked in the GAC preseason poll. If they want to finish in the top 8 of the 12 team conference and make the GAC Tournament, a series win almost feels like a must for the Rangers
Southeastern OK State vs Southern Nazarene
The Savage Storm may be the surprise of the conference in the first 2 weeks sitting at 4-2. SEOSU swept Henderson State last weekend in Durant.
SWOSU vs OBU
The Bulldogs have dropped 4 of their 5 conference games after going 8-1 in the non conference. Hate to say they are at a crossroads, but a series win vs the Bison would give them momentum heading into the meat of the conference season.
OBU is 3-3 but they just won the series over #21 Arkansas Monticello. I’m bullish on the Bison and if they can get consistent pitching, their offense is good enough to win ball games. A series win or even a sweep could put them in a good position for down the road.
Rogers State vs Northeastern State
Northeastern State swept their MIAA opening series at Newman last weekend. At 6-5, the River Hawks have won their last 4 games and 6 of their last 8. NSU put up 30 runs in their set with Newman last weekend. It seems there is cautious optimism in Tahlequah.
With the MIAA having an odd number of teams now, Rogers State was the odd team out last weekend. They did not have a conference series. The Hillcats come in with an 8-2 record. They got run ruled by NWOSU on Wednesday.
UCO at Emporia State
UCO makes the trip to Kansas for the 2nd straight weekend. The Bronchos (10-4) look to get right against ESU after dropping their series at Washburn, 2-1.
Emporia St is 5-5 and had lost 5 straight until a game 3 win over Pittsburg State on Sunday.
A series win for the Bronchos would be good to keep pace with Central Missouri, Missouri Southern, and others.
NAIA
Sooner Athletic Conference
None of the 5 SAC schools play each other this week: MACU hosts Central Christian; OCU is at Texas Wesleyan, Panhandle State hosts Wayland Baptist, Southwestern Christian hosts the College of the Ozarks, and USAO is at Nelson (formerly SW Assemblies of God).
Central Christian took 2 of 3 from OPSU last week, but MACU is the better team. The Evangels are riding an 8 game winning streak and swept Ozarks handily last weekend.
OCU has the toughest matchup (on paper) this weekend. TWU is ranked #21 by NAIA Ball. The Stars have struggled so far this season. They lost their opening SAC series to SCU last weekend and got run ruled by OK Wesleyan on Tuesday. A series win or, better yet, a sweep could be a turning point for the Stars. They have too much talent to stay down for long.
OPSU hosts Wayland Baptist in a series where both teams enter at 1-2. The Aggies won game 3 vs CCC and WBU won game 3 vs USAO.
USAO travels to Waxahachie to take on Nelson. The Drovers are 10-7 on the season and 2-1 in the SAC. The Lions are 13-5 and 3-0 after sweeping TWU last weekend.
USAO has shown signs of being a top level team this year, but inconsistency has plagued them on the mound. If the Drovers can get the pitching they need, their bats are as good as any team out there. A series win on the road against a good team would show the rest of the conference they are a team to reckon with.
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Oklahoma Wesleyan at Southwestern College
The Eagles come into this series at 17-1 and 5-1 in the KCAC. At 2-6, Southwestern has not played well so far this season (although they did beat SCU 8-2 this week).
OKWU looks to keep things rolling as they should score a lot of runs against a Moundbuilders team that has given up a lot so far.
NJCAA
Division 1
Region 2 play begins this weekend in Division 1. We have Seminole State vs Rose State and Eastern vs NEO
Seminole State vs Rose State
The Trojans come into this series after entering the NJCAA rankings at #19 this week. The Trojans have played one of the toughest schedules around and are 8-4.
Rose State comes in at 5-8, but they did beat then #10 Crowder 3 of 4 games last weekend.
Interesting note, the Saturday double header will be played at the Bricktown Ballpark with free admission to the games.
Eastern vs NEO
Eastern comes into the series at 9-8 on the season and it has been a roller coaster for the Mountaineers. EOSC has winning streaks of 4 and 3 games this season (sweeps over Highland and MACC respectively).
NEO is 4-5 on the season losing 5 of their last 7 games.
Divison 2
The D2 schools in the state are all playing out of state teams. Carl Albert has a series with Labette; NOC Enid vs Pratt; Redlands with Hesston, NOC Tonkawa with Missouri St-West Plains, and Western at North Central Texas College.
The marquee matchup, however, is Murray State traveling to play LSU Eunice on the road. The Aggies are 12-4 and are riding a 9 game winning streak. LSUE is 16-1 and ranked #8 in Division 1 in the NJCAA rankings released this week.
The Bengals are in Division 1 this year after spending time as a Division 2 school. They’ve won 8 national championships including the 2024 championship in D2.
This isn’t the first time Murray State is playing an elite D1 team this season. The Aggies split a DH with D1 preseason #1 Blinn on opening weekend.
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