North Greenville Reigns Supreme For 13th-Straight Week
PEMBROKE, N.C. – Defending national champion North Greenville collected 17 of the 19 possible first-place votes on Wednesday to assume the No. 1 position in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Top 25 for the 13th-straight week – the second-longest reign in the 21-year history of the national ranking.
The nation’s top-3 teams remained the same in the Week 9 edition of the ranking as Angelo State raked in both remaining first-place votes to settle into the No. 2 spot for the second-straight week, while Tampa rounded out the top 3.
The Crusaders boast NCAA Division II’s seventh-best team earned run average (3.49), while ranking among the nation’s top-20 squads in nine offensive statistical categories, including scoring (9.3 runs/game). North Greenville is also unbeaten in 21 home games this season, and has outscored opponents 209-75 inside their home stadium in 2023.
Three teams re-entered Wednesday’s Top 25 after absences of varying lengths this season. Valdosta State (No. 19) is back inside the top 20 following a 4-1 week that opened with a 15-14 upset of then-No. 3 Tampa. MSU Denver is back in the poll in the No. 21 spot, while Southern New Hampshire is No. 23.
Tampa’s 18-week reign at No. 1 - beginning with the 2014 preseason poll - is the longest stay at No. 1 for any team across the more-than two-decade history of the NCBWA Division II Top 25.
| 2023 NCBWA DIVISION II TOP 25 |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
North Greenville (17) |
35-5 |
473 |
1 |
| 2 |
Angelo State (2) |
35-5 |
457 |
2 |
| 3 |
Tampa |
27-7 |
433 |
3 |
| 4 |
Cal State San Bernardino |
27-9 |
385 |
7 |
| 5 |
Newberry |
29-6 |
365 |
6 |
| 6 |
Rollins |
25-9 |
352 |
11 |
| 7 |
St. Edward's (Texas) |
29-7 |
344 |
8 |
| 8 |
Central Missouri |
27-10 |
336 |
18 |
| 9 |
East Stroudsburg |
28-5 |
321 |
14 |
| 10 |
Wayne State (Mich.) |
24-4 |
306 |
12 |
| 11 |
Southern Arkansas |
27-10 |
263 |
10 |
| 12 |
Colorado Mesa |
27-8 |
252 |
13 |
| 13 |
New Haven |
20-5 |
226 |
16 |
| 14 |
Quincy |
23-8 |
220 |
9 |
| 15 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
31-9 |
210 |
15 |
| 16 |
Millersville |
26-6 |
203 |
5 |
| 17 |
Missouri Southern State |
29-10 |
181 |
4 |
| 18 |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
22-9 |
168 |
19 |
| 19 |
Valdosta State |
23-10 |
131 |
RV |
| 20 |
Illinois-Springfield |
26-8 |
102 |
20 |
| 21 |
MSU Denver |
30-8 |
86 |
RV |
| 22 |
Young Harris |
28-11 |
70 |
23 |
| 23 |
Southern New Hampshire |
21-8 |
65 |
RV |
| 24 |
Montevallo |
29-9 |
52 |
21 |
| 25 |
Point Loma |
21-11 |
44 |
24 |
| Receiving Votes: Minnesota State (22-6) 33 points; Seton Hill (24-7) 30 points; Franklin Piece (19-9) 12 points; UNC Pembroke (28-10) 12 points; Florida Southern (24-10) 10 points; UT Tyler (27-12) 6 points; Azusa Pacific (22-16) 3 points; Maryville (20-10) 2 points. |
| Dropped Out: West Georgia (17th); Franklin Pierce (22nd); Minnesota State (25th). |
| ATLANTIC REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
East Stroudsburg (11) |
28-5 |
110 |
2 |
| 2 |
Millersville |
26-6 |
97 |
1 |
| 3 |
Seton Hill |
24-7 |
90 |
3 |
| 4 |
Charleston (W.Va.) |
25-7 |
77 |
4 |
| 5 |
West Chester |
19-9 |
61 |
5 |
| 6 |
Mercyhurst |
17-6 |
60 |
6 |
| 7 |
West Virginia State |
18-11 |
25 |
RV |
| 8 |
Kutztown |
20-12 |
23 |
T9 |
| 9 |
Concord |
17-12 |
17 |
RV |
| 10 |
Frostburg State |
18-13 |
15 |
RV |
| Receiving Votes: Shepherd (19-14) 12 points; Bloomsburg (13-11) 7 points; California (Pa.) (13-12) 5 points; Slippery Rock (14-13) 4 Points; Shippensburg (19-17) 2 points. |
| Dropped Out: Shippensburg (7th); Shepherd (8th); Slippery Rock (T9th). |
|
| EAST REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
New Haven (7) |
20-5 |
88 |
1 |
| 2 |
Southern New Hampshire (2) |
21-8 |
82 |
3 |
| 3 |
Franklin Pierce |
19-9 |
65 |
2 |
| 4 |
Pace |
20-6 |
63 |
4 |
| 5 |
Southern Connecticut State |
21-7 |
53 |
7 |
| 6 |
Goldey-Beacom |
21-11 |
47 |
5 |
| 7 |
Molloy |
21-11 |
36 |
6 |
| 8 |
Queens (N.Y.) |
19-8 |
26 |
8 |
| 9 |
Wilmington (Del.) |
18-11 |
18 |
10 |
| 10 |
Post |
21-12 |
17 |
9 |
| Receiving Votes: None. |
| Dropped Out: None. |
|
| CENTRAL REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
Central Missouri (7) |
27-10 |
139 |
3 |
| 2 |
Southern Arkansas (6) |
27-10 |
134 |
2 |
| 3 |
Missouri Southern State (1) |
29-10 |
119 |
1 |
| 4 |
Minnesota State (1) |
22-6 |
110 |
4 |
| 5 |
Ouachita Baptist |
26-10 |
78 |
7 |
| 6 |
Pittsburg State |
26-11 |
77 |
6 |
| 7 |
Augustana (S.D.) |
25-13 |
53 |
10 |
| 8 |
Central Oklahoma |
26-11 |
43 |
5 |
| 9 |
Arkansas Tech |
23-16 |
41 |
RV |
| 10 |
St. Cloud State |
17-11 |
14 |
RV |
| Receiving Votes: Henderson State (23-15) 6 points; Minnesota Crookston (20-14) 3 points; Minot State (18-10) 3 points; Harding (23-13) 2 points; Washburn (21-16) 2 points; Oklahoma Baptist (21-15) 1 points. |
| Dropped Out: Washburn (8th); Minot State (10th). |
|
| MIDWEST REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
Wayne State (Mich.) (1) |
24-4 |
58 |
2 |
| 2 |
Quincy (5) |
23-8 |
56 |
1 |
| 3 |
Illinois-Springfield |
26-8 |
48 |
3 |
| 4 |
Maryville |
20-10 |
41 |
5 |
| 5 |
Grand Valley State |
19-9 |
35 |
4 |
| 6 |
Northwood |
24-9 |
28 |
7 |
| 7 |
Ashland |
22-9 |
28 |
6 |
| 8 |
Drury |
21-16 |
13 |
9 |
| 9 |
Findlay |
16-14 |
9 |
NR |
| 10 |
Walsh |
15-11 |
5 |
10 |
| Receiving Votes: Indianapolis (17-12) 4 points; William Jewell (19-13) 4 points; Lewis (15-15) 1 point. |
| Dropped Out: William Jewell (8th). |
|
| SOUTH REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
Tampa (6) |
27-7 |
86 |
1 |
| 2 |
Rollins (3) |
25-9 |
84 |
2 |
| 3 |
Valdosta State |
23-10 |
63 |
5 |
| 4 |
Montevallo |
29-9 |
56 |
4 |
| 5 |
Florida Southern |
24-10 |
54 |
6 |
| 6 |
West Florida |
22-14 |
48 |
9 |
| 7 |
West Georgia |
25-11 |
34 |
3 |
| 8 |
Albany State |
21-6 |
21 |
8 |
| 9 |
Alabama Huntsville |
22-15 |
20 |
10 |
| 10 |
Saint Leo |
20-14 |
13 |
RV |
| Receiving Votes: Barry (25-12) 10 points; Florida Tech (20-15) 2 points; Shorter; (20-16) 2 points Savannah State (21-8) 1 point; Spring Hill (19-15) 1 point. |
| Dropped Out: Florida Tech (7th). |
|
| SOUTH CENTRAL REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
Angelo State (8) |
35-5 |
80 |
1 |
| 2 |
St. Edward's (Texas) |
29-7 |
70 |
2 |
| 3 |
Colorado Mesa |
27-8 |
66 |
3 |
| 4 |
MSU Denver |
30-8 |
53 |
5 |
| 5 |
UT Tyler |
27-12 |
51 |
4 |
| 6 |
West Texas A&M |
26-12 |
35 |
6 |
| 7 |
Lubbock Christian |
21-16 |
30 |
8 |
| 8 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
23-19 |
21 |
7 |
| 9 |
Regis |
18-16 |
20 |
9 |
| 10 |
Colorado School of Mines |
16-16 |
13 |
10 |
| Receiving Votes: St. Mary's (17-20) 1 point. |
| Dropped Out: None. |
|
| SOUTHEAST REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
North Greenville (10) |
35-5 |
100 |
1 |
| 2 |
Newberry |
29-6 |
79 |
2 |
| 3 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
31-9 |
78 |
3 |
| 4 |
Young Harris |
28-11 |
73 |
4 |
| 5 |
UNC Pembroke |
28-10 |
49 |
6 |
| 6 |
Wingate |
24-13 |
36 |
8 |
| 7 |
USC Aiken |
25-12 |
35 |
9 |
| 8 |
Columbus State |
25-11 |
31 |
7 |
| 9 |
Mount Olive |
24-10 |
29 |
5 |
| 10 |
Belmont Abbey |
26-11 |
17 |
10 |
| Receiving Votes: Georgia Southwestern (21-13) 16 points; Erskine (22-15) 4 points; Catawba (23-15) 2 points; Barton (21-14) 1 point. |
| Dropped Out: None. |
|
| WEST REGION |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2023 Record |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
Cal State San Bernardino (8) |
27-9 |
134 |
1 |
| 2 |
Cal State Monterey Bay (6) |
22-9 |
132 |
2 |
| 3 |
Point Loma |
21-11 |
105 |
3 |
| 4 |
Azusa Pacific |
22-16 |
95 |
4 |
| 5 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
21-12 |
93 |
5 |
| 6 |
San Francisco State |
19-12 |
44 |
RV |
| 7 |
Hawaii Hilo |
19-13 |
41 |
8 |
| 8 |
Holy Names |
21-14 |
34 |
9 |
| 9 |
Chico State |
15-14 |
24 |
RV |
| 10 |
Stanislaus State |
18-15 |
21 |
6 |
| Receiving Votes: Cal State Dominguez Hills (16-17) 17 points; Northwest Nazarene (18-20) 14 points; Concordia University Irvine (15-15) 7 points; Fresno Pacific (15-15) 5 points; Western Oregon (16-12) 4 points. |
| Dropped Out: Cal State Dominguez Hills (7th); Western Oregon (10th). |
