South Texas- BEFORE WE BEGIN… Once again I am coming to you to gripe about ratings. There is a team receiving votes that has more current top 25 wins than 23 of the teams in the new top 25. Time & time again I hear about how much ‘scheduling’ is valued. But first, because I can already see myself getting a text, what we count as a Top 25 ‘win’ is only against the CURRENT Top 25. So why don’t we count “all” top 25 “wins”, well 40% of the ‘pre-season’ poll which stood from November 2nd, 2022 to March 8th, 2023 is no longer in the poll. This is who the raters see as the current best 25 teams so that’s what we compare them to, that’s how we do it, its our publication. There is nothing sexy about a .500% record, I get it. But do not tell me ‘scheduling’ matters when 8 teams in this poll have played 3 games or less versus what the coaches rating committee considers the best 25 teams nationally. On we go-
What factors into the rankings?
I use a combination of the following factors: overall record, conference record, record vs current Top 25, home/away/neutral splits, last 10, record vs NCAA, record vs USCAA/NCCAA, overall competition played, strength of wins, and worst losses. Understand these are just my thoughts, there’s reasoning but no wild formula other than a spreadsheet where I keep information. But lets rank these teams as of the overalls on 4/4 when we update data-
#1 Southeastern (FL) 35-2
If you disagree you’re wrong. And until someone proves otherwise they will be #1. There’s a large gap between the great teams at this level, and the ‘good’ teams. What SEU wants to do is create a large gap between themselves and everyone else at this level. I’m looking forward to watching what they can do in May.
#2 LSUS 30-6
Two weeks ago in this and on the podcast last week, I mentioned that LSUS is the 2nd best team in the nation right now. 9-3 vs this Top 25 group, you’d be surprised to remember this team started 0-2. A solid offense that comes with experience is met by a pitching staff that is top 3 nationally when it comes to earned run average as a staff. Bobby Vath is a certified ace, who has done nothing but improve from last season.
#3 Georgia Gwinnett 31-5
The Grizzlies have done nothing but be absolutely solid this year. 6-2 against the current top 25, the Grizzlies have racked up some good season series wins over Loyola, Bryan, Mobile, Clarke, Taylor, and Indiana Wesleyan, they also split the season series with Tennessee Wesleyan. Ajay Sczepkowski is one of the best players nationally, you can find his name on multiple leaderboards. The offense has been elite with 8 players in 30- plus games played have all hit over .300 average this season.
#4 Tennessee Wesleyan 28-6
Speaking of blue bloods here is Tennessee Wesleyan once again being right in the middle of the national attention in April. The Bulldogs are 18-0 in conference play so far this season, and mid to late April will be helpful in the long run. Series versus Point and Reinhardt, midweeks against Bryan and Cumberlands (KY). All 6 of the TWU losses this season are to teams in this current Top 25. If you’re going to pick a player to watch down the stretch then I’d watch Carson Ford. Ford is on a 12 game heater with multiple hit games in his last 5.
#5 Hope International (CA) 21-6
The Royals of HIU have made themselves standout amongst the other competition in the GSAC. HIU has 6 wins against the current Top 25, and has dropped just one series this year. Rivera and Jung-Goldberg lead the way offensively, while Martin and Garcia make for stiff competition on the mound. Severely underrated has been the 1.36 earned run average of Connor Martin. The GSAC hasn’t seen a win in Lewiston since 2017, and until Westmont broke through last year, they had a 4 year drought in the pacific northwest. The Royals will try to change that this year.
#6 Bellevue (NE) 26-5
Bellevue is a consistent team, at 26-5 they done just about everything that we’ve asked them to do. Kanta Kobayashi is a special talent, but when you look at what the Bruins will have for the next few years you have to feel good about the direction of this team. The talent offensively is young and in numbers, while on the mound there’s a large number of juniors who make a consistent impact. All the makings of something special for years to come.
#7 Lewis Clarke State (ID) 20-10
LCSC hasn’t been great in the last few weeks, in fact they have lost two straight Cascade Conference series in a row. But here is something I hold as a fact, which is until you show me the bracket that doesn’t have them in the World Series then I am going to have them in the World Series. They’re guaranteed to be in an opening round tournament, at home. I just think this team and its pitching staff is too talented to be left out. Ask me again about all of this in the next two weeks.
#8 Westmont (CA) 27-7
Credit to Westmont who leads the GSAC standings headed into the first full weekend of April. While the schedule has not been super scary looking, Westmont is still 4-3 against this batch of Top 25 programs. Bryan Peck and Chase Goddard have been excellent on the mound, the pitching staff as a whole for Westmont is the overall bright spot. The one area of interest to keep an eye on as we approach tournament play is the offense hitting just .280 as a team.
#9 Mobile (AL) 24-6
Speaking of offense, Mobile does offense extremely well. The Rams are 6th nationally in team batting average, Trevor Wells and Andrews lead the team in home runs. Tucker Musgrove leads the team in hits with 51. The next three weeks will be big for the Rams who will travel to Hattiesburg to play William Carey, then welcome Talladega, before making one final road trip to Montgomery to play Faulkner.
#10 Cumberlands (KY) 30-5
New into this ranking is the Patriots of Cumberlands (KY) at 30-5 overall and 14-4 in Mid-South Conference play. Since I have been doing this whole NAIA Ball thing, there has been no shortage of talent coming through this program. Brad Shelton’s teams are talented and competitive year in and year out. Ryan Shavers, Max Harper, and Charlie Muniz are very talented bats not just at UC but nationally. At some point this program is going to get over the hump and find themselves booking flights to the pacific northwest. There is no better time than the present.
Finally I’d like to apologize for my absence of articles over the last week and a half. I had come down ill after a trip to central Texas, and find myself on the mend. Conner did an incredible job holding down the fort while I was sick, and that trust I can place in him just shows me we’ve got more great things coming. Prayers for continued recovery are appreciated! Thanks for being part of our family.
-Robby Gutierrez