2009 Fall Sports Schedules--Part 2

More fall sports schedules are here. Perhaps the biggest question in Alabama-Huntsville Charger country has to be: can the volleyball team bounce back from a dismal one-win season? UAH volleyball's not alone, though, as the Clayton State women's soccer also is coming off a one-win campaign?

Alabama-Huntsville

Men's Soccer

Volleyball

Women's Soccer

Clayton State

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

2009 Fall Sports Schedules--Part 1

It might be summer (and hot outside), but the 2009 fall sports season is just around the corner. Here's a select list of sports schedules from around D-II South Nation.

Armstrong Atlantic State

Volleyball

Women's Soccer

West Florida

Men's Soccer

Volleyball

Women's Soccer

D-II Baseball Regional Preview

NOTE: Teams in conferences covered by D-II South Sports are marked in BOLD type.

The selections have been made. Now, the road to an NCAA Division II baseball national championship begins in earnest. Here's a quick preview and analysis of the regional fields in both the South and Southeast Regions, respectively. Team won-lost records are marked in parentheses.

South--at Magnolia, Arkansas (May 14-18, 2009)

Tournament Website

Bracket

TEAMS

1. Southern Arkansas (49-9)

2. Barry (44-9)

3. West Alabama (37-14)

4. Tampa (38-15)

5. Lynn (38-16)

6. Florida Southern (38-14)

7. Valdosta State (41-19)

8. Stillman (35-20)

Analysis: While there's no surprise as to who's in the South Regional bracket, the big surprise has to be in who isn't: No. 15 (Collegiate Baseball) Delta State. Despite being nationally ranked several national polls for most of the season, and earning the West Division's top seed for the Gulf South Conference tournament, the Statesmen found themselves outside looking in after being snubbed for a regional bid. Still, this regional tournament has a star-studded cast in terms of teams, with six of the top 20 squads in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll playing this weekend: No. 1 Southern Arkansas, No. 3 Barry, co-No. 7 West Alabama, No. 10 Tampa, No. 14 Florida Southern, and No. 19 Valdosta State. It's too bad only one of these eight teams listed above can move on to Cary, N.C., the site of this year's national tournament.

Southeast--at Aiken, South Carolina (May 14-17, 2009)

Tournament Website

Bracket

TEAMS

1. USC Aiken (39-17)

2. Francis Marion (36-13-1)

3. Georgia College & State University (37-17)

4. Catawba (35-16)

5. Tusculum (36-16)

6. Belmont Abbey (34-24)

Analysis: Although they grabbed the top three seeds for this regional, the Peach Belt Conference only managed to get three teams there. No. 5 USC Aiken still managed to earn the host's role for the Southeast bracket despite being bounced early as the No. 1 seed by No. 8 seed Augusta State in the PBC tournament. Like the South bracket, the Southeast Regional also has its share of nationally ranked teams playing for the right to go to North Carolina. In addition to the Pacers, there's also the other co-No. 7 team in the Collegiate Baseball poll, Francis Marion, as well as No. 20 GC&SU, No.21 Catawba, and Tusculum--which, ironically--finished in a three-way tie for the No. 30 ranking with UNC Pembroke, another good team from D-II South Nation on the outside looking in, and New Mexico Highlands. Also, No. 23 Armstrong Atlantic State was left out of the Southeast field despite a decent 38-18 record.

Who's in?

The start of the NCAA Division II baseball tournament is just around the corner, with regionals starting later this week. Following are the teams in both the South and Southeast Regions, respectively, that have clinched automatic bids to the regionals. Teams in conferences covered by D-II South Sports are marked in BOLD type.

South Region

Gulf South: Southern Arkansas

SIAC: Stillman

Sunshine State: Barry

Southeast Region

Conference Carolinas: Belmont Abbey

Peach Belt: Francis Marion

South Atlantic: Catawba

Click here, or on the title of the post above, for a list of all automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Division II baseball championships.

UNC Pembroke baseball routs USC Aiken 17-3

The University of South Carolina-Aiken baseball team saw its 16-game winning streak snapped with a 17-3 rout by UNC Pembroke Friday night. Click here to see how UNCP's win impacts the Peach Belt Conference regular season title race.

Big baseball weekend...and more...

The next to last weekend in April has multiple games with conference tournament implications. Speaking of which, there's a very important conference softball tournament being played in South Carolina. So, without further ado, here goes. All series listed are played Saturday and Sunday unless otherwise indicated.

Baseball

Ouachita Baptist at Southern Arkansas: The top-ranked (Collegiate Baseball D-II) Muleriders play host to the No. 25 Tigers in an unlikely match-up of top teams in the Gulf South Conference West Division. Having already clinched a berth in the GSC tournament, SAU (38-7, 14-1) is riding a season-high 17-game winning streak, and hopes to continue that amazing run against OBU (33-14, 8-7).

West Alabama at North Alabama: The No. 10 (and current GSC East leader) Tigers (31-10, 10-1) have already clinched a berth in the GSC tournament, and will look to build on its eight-game winning streak against a Lions team (30-17, 4-5) that's in a must-win situation in this critical series. It's one that UNA must have to stay in postseason contention.

Columbus State at Armstrong Atlantic State: The three-game tilt between the Cougars (24-17, 10-10) and the Pirates (29-16, 7-11) is just one of many critical series in the always tough Peach Belt Conference. Remember, only the top eight teams (out of 10) advance to the two-day, single-elimination tournament next month.

GC&SU at UNC Pembroke: The No. 8 Bobcats (29-11, 14-7) will look to hang on to first place in the PBC against the red-hot Braves (33-13, 10-10), who have won 11 straight games.

Lander at USC Aiken: The Pacers (30-14, 13-8) hope to keep pace with the Bobcats with a series win against the eighth-place Bearcats (25-17, 8-11).

Honorable mention: Augusta State at Francis Marion, Delta State at Arkansas Tech, Valdosta State at Montevallo.

Softball

Peach Belt Conference Tournament (at Florence, S.C.): Regular season champion and second-ranked (NFCA D-II) North Georgia enters this tourney as the obvious favorite. The Saints (40-3, 17-1 PBC) advanced to Saturday's winner's bracket with an easy 9-0 win over Georgia Southwestern, while No. 2 seed and defending tournament champion Georgia College & State University fell into the loser's bracket after being upset by host Francis Marion 2-1 on Friday.

Peach Belt Conference Softball Tournament Website

Valdosta State at West Alabama: The No. 7 Lady Blazers (43-6, 17-2) can move one step closer towards clinching the GSC East crown with a sweep over the Tigers (39-10, 11-8).

West Florida at West Georgia: The Wolves (29-20, 11-8) play host to the Argonauts (37-13, 12-9) in another critical GSC East twinbill.

Baseball on Easter Weekend

Easter is just around the corner...Here are the big baseball series being played in D-II South Nation this weekend...

NOTE: All series will be played Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.

Gulf South Conference

West Florida at Alabama-Huntsville: With No. 11 (Collegiate Baseball) West Alabama already having clinched a GSC tournament berth, not to mention playing Talladega (Ala.) in a non-conference series, the battle between the Argonauts (26-17 overall) and Chargers (21-9) takes center stage in the East Division this weekend. Both teams are in a virtual tie for second place, with UWF sitting at 6-6 in conference play, while UAH is 4-4.

North Alabama at Valdosta State: This series is critical too, as the Blazers play host to the Lions in a battle to stay in conference tournament contention. No. 28 UNA comes into this series at 3-3, while VSU takes a 4-5 league mark into this trio of games.

Henderson State at Harding: The Bisons (24-19) are riding a five-game winning streak into their series against the Reddies (28-12), who at 4-8 in the GSC West Division, find themselves in a must-win situation to keep themselves in the GSC tournament discussion.

Arkansas Tech at Ouachita Baptist: The Tigers (28-14) find themselves in the same boat as the Reddies, as they take a 5-7 GSC West record into their series against the 19-23 Wonder Boys. ATU, though, does have a winning record in conference play at 7-5.

Peach Belt Conference

Georgia College & State University at Columbus State: The No. 8 Bobcats (26-10, 12-6) hit the road to face the Cougars in one of many crucial series in the PBC this Easter weekend. GC&SU took two out of three games from Francis Marion last weekend, while CSU (21-15, 9-8) hopes to bounce back after losing two of three at Lander.

Augusta State at USC Aiken: If you thought the rivalry between the men's basketball teams was intense, the battle between the baseball squads will just as fierce. Both USCA (26-14, 10-8) and ASU (20-21, 8-7) are separated by mere percentage points in the battle for second place in the PBC. But depending upon what happens in this series, as well as the aforementioned between GC&SU and CSU, either team could be alone at the top by the end of the day on Saturday.

Honorable mention: UNC Pembroke at Lander, Georgia Southwestern at Francis Marion, Armstrong Atlantic State at North Georgia.