Weekend Roundup — May 2, 2016

What a fun week to round up. Division III took center stage and didn’t disappoint. We saw upsets, walkoffs, records broken, incredible plays, and, of course, our first dogpile. And in D1 and D2, things are coming right down to the wire for playoff spots and league titles. More on all that plus Teams of the Week within.

(One quick programming note: It’s come to my attention that WordPress is showing ads for some folks. That’s their price for giving me free hosting, not my choice, but I still apologize for that, and please let me know if it’s a big issue for you.)

Weekend Preview — April 29-May 1, 2016

Playoffs! After Babson and Coast Guard kicked things off today, we’ve got full slates of conference tournament action in the NEWMAC and NECC to look forward to this weekend. That also means that we’ll have regular-season champions crowned and playoff spots decided all over D3. Add that to the top 4 facing off in the NE-10 Northeast and decisive weekends in the Rolfe Division, Patriot League, and NEC, and we’ve got a heck of a weekend to look forward to.

(Apologies for the delay in getting this out– the conference tournament previews set me back a bit. As a result I’ll only be focusing on Saturday and Sunday games in this post.)

Weekend Preview — April 22-24, 2016

Somehow it’s the last full week of April, and we’ve been blessed with another weekend of sunshine to enjoy some great baseball all around the region. D3 takes center stage, with two key series in the NEWMAC that’ll decide a division title and a playoff spot. We’ll also hit up the GNAC, NECC, CCC, NAC, and Little East for matchups that’ll go a long way towards deciding conference standings at year’s end. In D1, we’ll preview big weekends for Quinnipiac, Bryant, Dartmouth, and Yale, along with an ESPN3 doubleheader for Harvard and Brown and BC’s home set with #4 Louisville. And finally, in D2, the Northeast Division’s biggest weekend yet comes our way in the form of #3 Southern New Hampshire’s visit to Merrimack. Enjoy the reading, and more importantly, get out and enjoy a game.

(One programming note before we dive in: I probably won’t be able to do a Weekend Roundup this coming Monday, but I’ll be back in the middle of the week with some preview material for next weekend.)

Weekend Roundup — April 18, 2016

The weather was gorgeous this weekend, and the baseball was even better. We had more walkoffs than I can ever remember in a single weekend, and plenty of sweeps, upsets, and offense throughout the region. In Division I, UConn knocked off a top-30 opponent, Northeastern got a big road sweep, and the Ivy League standings got bunched about as tightly as possible entering the final two weekends. In Division II, Southern New Hampshire won its midweek grudge match with Franklin Pierce as part of a perfect week that left it atop the NE-10 Northeast. And in D3, a slew of title races came into focus in a weekend of walkoffs and upsets. Read on for more.

Weekend Roundup — April 11, 2016

Revenge was a theme this week, with teams like Rhode Island, Dartmouth, and Mass Maritime avenging painful playoff losses from a year ago. Along with that, we saw Boston College earn a big series win over the defending national champions, big weeks for the Rolfe Division and the NE-10 Northeast, and conference standings taking shape in D3. Read on for more.

Weekend Roundup — March 22, 2016

We’ve gotten in a lot more non-conference baseball than we’re used to this year, but with the end of March, we’re finally getting into conference play. Leagues like the ACC, AEC, NEC, and NECC are in full swing now, and some fascinating title races are already taking shape. More on those, and on the slew of NECB clubs representing the region well as our center of gravity shifts from south to north in the weeks ahead.

(One other thing, a favor to ask: I’ll be linking the blog posts on a Facebook page from here on out, and I’d much appreciate it if you’d give it a like and help spread the word to folks who aren’t on Twitter to follow the season along with us. Thanks, and enjoy the post!)

Weekend Roundup — March 7, 2016

As you may have seen on Twitter, I trekked down to southwest Virginia (where Quinnipiac, Hartford, and UConn were playing) and caught some great baseball this past weekend. Those teams might’ve preferred it if I stayed home (we’re 1-6 on the year with me in attendance), but thankfully, I couldn’t be everywhere, and New England’s strong start to 2016 continued. Central Connecticut headlined a slew of winning weekends in Division I, Franklin Pierce and Southern New Hampshire are off to matching 9-0 starts in D2, and NECC favorites Mitchell and Elms are off to perfect starts on their Florida trips. All that and more more after the jump.

Welcome Back + Division I Coaching Carousel

Welcome back! Appreciate all of you returning in the midst of football season. Incredibly enough, we’re less than a month from first pitch (kudos to Bentley for scheduling some January games in Florida), so I figured I should start getting some offseason roundup/season preview pieces up on here. No promises on the amount of posts I’ll do, but I’ll keep them coming until teams start playing outside up north— we’ll need plenty of reading material when the mild weather inevitably turns into a Day After Tomorrow scene as soon as we try to go outdoors. Anyways, enjoy, and let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see me spotlight in the run-up to the season.

In Division I, at least, only a handful of programs head into 2016 with new faces on the coaching staff. ­None of our 18 D1 programs made a head coaching change. (By comparison, four coaches were starting their first full season last year.) Eight teams returned full staffs, and three more added only a new volunteer. College baseball isn’t known for the same volatility as football or basketball in this department, but even then, it was a pretty quiet offseason.

This Weekend in Division I — March 26, 2015

We’re almost ready to turn the calendar to April, which means more teams than not are playing conference games that really matter. Some have already kicked things off, with A-10 leaders UMass getting off to the most auspicious start. Here’s a preview of the action.

Weekend Roundup — March 23, 2015

Just when we thought we were done with the snow, huh? Yet another weekend with a bunch of games cancelled, and these are conference games we’re talking about now. There was just enough turf and warmth for some teams to get outside up north, and a few were lucky enough to be playing down south. If you’re on grass, though, you better hope your facilities guys have an incentive-laden contract. They’ve got a busy week ahead if we don’t want to be canceling into the last weekend of March.

On the field, nobody really blew the doors off. None of the can’t-miss 4-0 and 5-0 weeks we’ve been seeing. Still, though, some good weeks, and plenty of exciting baseball. More after the jump.