Winter is still howling in the Rust Belt as teams head out for week two of college baseball. With colder air plunging into the Deep South schedule adjustments and cancellations have been announced. Milwaukee had a three game series with Louisville cancelled and UIC’s series with Vanderbilt was also cancelled while Michigan will visit Savannah, Georgia, to play Tennessee Tech in a three-game series this weekend. The Wolverines were supposed to play Liberty, St John’s and East Carolina at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, North Carolina, but weather and travel issues forced the schedule change.
The schedule doesn’t have many teams facing power conference opponents, a few match-ups bear watching.
College Baseball Daily had six Rust Belt teams in its first NCAA Tournament projection: Illinois, Ohio State, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Wright State and IUPU-Fort Wayne.
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Indiana faces Presbyterian, Furman and Xavier in the First Pitch invitational in Greenville, South Carolina. Presbyterian poses the biggest challenge for the Hoosiers pitching staff; the Blue Hose hit .345 as team and scored 34 runs on 48 hits in their way to a 4-0 record.
Illinois has a pair of games with Florida Gulf Coast and a single with Fordham. The Illini could head home 7-0 after the weekend; neither Fordham nor the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast has the offense or pitching to match Illinois.
Ohio State heads to Florida Atlantic to face the 3-0 Owls. FAU’s starting pitchers allowed three earned runs against Connecticut. The Buckeyes need to cut down on the strikeouts if they hope to win the series.
Northern Illinois travels to Lubbock for a four game set with the #5 Red Raiders. The series will define the Huskies program; a split would be considered a success against a team who has been nationally ranked for 20 consecutive weeks dating to 2014.
Kent State University will face #21 Baylor in Waco, Texas. Baylor’s swept #13 Cal Poly with outstanding pitching, the Mustangs were held to 12 runs in 3 games. KSU faces a team with that wins over 70% of their home games.
Ball State plays High Point twice and Elon twice in Aiken, South Carolina. The Cardinals pitching staff only threw 17 innings last weekend, they’ll be tested by Elon, 34 runs on 45 hits and ISU, 31 runs with 11 extra base hits.
Ohio University will travel to Marietta, GA., to take on the Longwood Lancers in a three-game series beginning Friday in the Lake Pointe Sports Complex. The series replaces games in Tennessee against Belmont, East Tennessee and Lipscomb, which were unplayable due to inclement weather. The Bobcats committed one error in their three game sweep of UNC Ashville.
Bradley takes on McNeese State, the Cowboys are 4-1 with six players hitting over .300. Bradley (2-1) must improve on their 11.33 team ERA if they hope to beat the Cowboys.
Wright State takes on # 18 Mississippi in Oxford. The Raiders hope to continue the power surge; they posted 5 home runs and 51 total bases in their three wins on opening weekend. Any wins versus a power conference opponent will be a bonus for WSU this weekend.
IUPU-Fort Wayne will play Murray State in Emerson, Georgia due to poor weather conditions in Kentucky. The four game series features a hot hitting Fort Wayne (.355 team BA) versus a pacers pitching staff that gave up 23 runs in three games at Southern Mississippi.
Notre Dame makes a road trip to San Antonio for the Irish Alamo Invitational where they meet Incarnate World, Northwestern and Villanova. A return to college baseball prominence by the Irish will require a weekend sweep.
