When will the spring weather finally arrive? I applaud the teams this year playing through this disastrous weather. But as far as baseball goes, this is the third week of my weekly round up and I keep being surprised every week.
National Rankings
Wheaton leapfrogged St. Joseph’s as the top New England team ranked this week in the D3Baseball.com poll. The Lyons swept Clark and are now 8-4 on the season, coming in at No. 10 in this week’s poll. The Monks are now No. 11. Western New England took a hard fall, dropping from 12th to 20th in this week’s poll.
Eastern Connecticut (28), Suffolk (18), Bridgewater St. (8), MIT (5) and Tufts (1) are all receiving votes.
NED3Baseball Regional Rankings
1. Southern Maine (10-3): The Huskies have won four-straight games and just defeated #21 Wisconsin-Whitewater.
2. Suffolk (10-2): Opened the week with a victory over ECSU to stretch their win streak to 10. It was stopped by Salem St. on Wednesday.
3. Eastern Connecticut (10-4): Rebounded from tough loss to Suffolk with win over Manhattanville.
4. MIT (8-1): The Engineers are off to a great start behind a stellar pitching staff that has posted a 2.92 ERA.
5. St. Joseph’s (7-3): Have dropped two-straight games.
6. Wheaton (8-5): Just 3-2 over their last five games.
7. Amherst (8-4): Just blanked Keene St. 8-0 to move to 8-4 on the season.
8. Salve Regina (10-3): Have won 10 of their last 11 and are 2-0 in CCC play.
Around New England
The 2013 season has really shown the parity in New England. Some of the usual suspects have struggled, while other non-traditional powers have thrived. For the third-straight week, the shining star has been Suffolk. The Rams ran their win streak to 10 games with a big in-region victory over Eastern Connecticut on Monday before having it snapped on Wednesday against Salem St. With a solid pitching staff and stellar hitting, the Rams are showing they might have what it takes to overcome St. Joseph’s in the GNAC.
Salve Regina is another one of those teams that has caught fire. The Seahawks lost their first two games but have posted victories in 10 of their last 11. That includes a pair of victories over Eastern Nazarene to open CCC play and a 3-2 victory over LEC member Rhode Island College. As a team, the Seahawks are hitting .348 and averaging nearly 10 runs per game. Daniel Donohue is hitting .524 with six doubles and 19 RBI and Ryan Kelly is hitting .395 with seven stolen bases and 22 runs scored.
The top three teams in the region at the start of the season — Wheaton, St. Joseph’s and Western New England — have all got off to slow starts. The Lyons are just 8-5 on the season and were just blanked by Bridgewater State on Tuesday. The numbers are there for the Lyons, a .304 team average and a 2.79 ERA, but the wins are not. The Monks of St. Joseph’s were also dealt a big blow this week as Endicott defeated ace Chad Rafferty, 4-2. St. Joe’s has now lost back-to-back games but a favorable schedule awaits them. The Golden Bears picked up big wins over Cortland State and Amherst, but three-straight losses since the first official day of spring really hurt them. They picked up a victory over crosstown rival Springfield this week and are hoping that will jumpstart an offense that is hitting just .263.
New England D3 College Baseball 