PBR JUCO: How the D2 Top-25 Has Fared

February 24, 2023
By Andy Sroka
Illinois & Wisconsin Assistant Director

With nearly four full weeks of the 2023 NJCAA season in the books, it's almost time to update the Top-25 rankings. But first, let's see who's hot and who's not.

NJCAA DIV. II PRESEASON TOP 25

Preseason	Team	2023 Record	2023 Season Notes
1	Pearl River (MS)	11-1	The defending champs are playing like it, as winners of 11 of 12 to start their defense campaign. Gabe Broadus (.462) and Preston Soper (.424) have been sparking the team offensively as its batting average leaders, with three homers and eight doubles between them. Ian Montz is pacing the team with thre homers and 14 RBIs on his own. Redshirt freshman Cooper Cooksey has not yet allowed an earned run in 15 innings, with 15 Ks; Will Passeau has punched out 19 batters in 13 innings and has a 1.38 ERA.
2	Heartland (IL)	1-0	Heartland won a lopsided home opener last week, 21-3, and they haven't played since. They're back in action for a double-header on Sunday against Illinois Valley.
3	Kirkwood (IA)	7-1	Kirkwood suffered its first loss of the season in its most recent contest, 8-7, against East Central (OK). The team's combined to hit 14 homers so far this spring, Kyle Hayes and Joe Simpson each have three; Hayes has a team-high 15 RBIs and four doubles as well. Prior to, Kirkwood opened its season up with a four-game sweep of Seward County and they also earned wins against Jones (MS) and Wallace-State (AL) last week.
4	Madison (WI)	-	Madison will embark on its latest mission to get back to the NJCAA D2 World Series when its season starts on March 9.
5	LSU Eunice	15-0	LSU Eunice has opened its season emphatically, as winners of its first 15 games and that includes sweeps of the No. 13-ranked Kellogg (MI) on the D2 board, as well as the No. 15 team on the D3 board, Dallas-North Lake. Zachary Thomas has collected 19 hits in 45 at-bats (.422) and he's drove 24 runs already; he has two homers and five doubles, too. Alexander Saunier is also hitting above .400 this season for them, slugging .730 along the way. From the mound, Patrick Vienne has 31 Ks in 20 innings; Parker Webb has punched out 23 with a 1.13 ERA; and Owen Schexnaydre has a 0.73 WHIP and a 1.65 ERA in 16.1 innings.
6	Lansing (MI)	-	Lansing's season starts this weekend with games against strong programs like D2 No. 16 Parkland (IL) and Lake Land (IL).
7	Frederick (MD)	-	Frederick opens its season this weekend in Florida with a four-game set against Bryant & Stratton (WI).
8	Lincoln Land (IL)	2-2	Lincoln Land is 2-2 overall with wins over East Central (OK) and Indian Hills (IA) and losses to Iowa Central and Southwest Tennessee. They're participating in the SWIC Tournament this weekend, set for games against St. Louis, Jefferson (MO), St. Charles (MO).
9	Meridian (MS)	7-3	Meridian has lost three games this season, 7-3 overall, but each of the three losses are quality: Gulf Coast State (FL), McLennan (TX), and Pearl River (MS), each of which are ranked. Brennan Study is hitting .441, slugging .735, with a team-high 10 RBIs. Meridian's been effective as a staff to start this season; Cole Boswell has 15 Ks in 11 innings and has allowed just one hit and no runs.
10	Murray State (OK)	12-2	Murray State has 12 wins and they've been excellent offensively, outside of a two-game sweep at the hands of Connors State (OK) two weeks back. They have a couple ranked wins as well, against D3 Dallas-North Lake and D2 Kellogg (MI). Patrick McCullough is slugging .740 with nine doubles and three triples and a team-high 22 hits. Garrett Gruell has bashed seven homers to generate 19 RBIs. Brady Benedict has four doubles and two homers with 14 RBIs, and he's hitting .528. Colby Langford has 35 strikeouts in 20 innings with an ERA of 2.20.
11	Mercer County (NJ)	-	Mercer County's season will start this weekend, on Sunday, Feb. 26.
12	St. Johns River (FL)	13-6	St. Johns River has been busy in 2023 already, having played 19 games already, winning 13 of them. They split a four-game set with South Georgia State and dropped two tight games against East Mississippi, and they're fresh off a split with Polk State, too. Kaleb Freeman has a team-high five homers, 22 RBIs, and eight doubles. Maverick Stallings is hitting .364 wth four doubles. Pitchers Connor McBride and Aaron Potter have been very effecitve; McBride has 37 strikeouts in 22.1 innings with a 2.01 ERA, while Potter has a 0.54 ERA with 27 Ks in 16.2 frames.
13	Kellogg (MI)	2-5	Kellogg challenged itself with a visit to powerhouse LSU Eunice to start its season and the Bruins wound up on the wrong end of a three-game sweep. They sandwiched that series with wins over Ivy Tech (IN) and Centenary (NJ), though just suffered its fifth loss to another ranked team, Murray State, this week and they're now 2-5 overall. Freshman Aaron Piasecki has been one of their top hitters so far, 10-for-17 this season with three doubles. Noah Warren also has three doubles and a home run. The team's three arms with the most innings pitched (17.2) have combined to allow just one earned run so far: Jake Ickes, Kane Elmy, and Austin VanderBrink.
14	Iowa Central	6-1	Iowa Central is off to a solid start this season, 6-1 overall, and they started their season with a three-game sweep of Northern Oklahoma-Enid, followed up with wins over Lake Michigan, Lincoln Land (IL), and Lake Land (IL), with a narrow 2-0 loss to Northeast Mississippi mixed in there. Colton Becker is pacing them offensively by slugging .800 with two doubles, two homers, and 13 RBIs. Freshman Michael Siemer has four doubles and two homers already this season. Oliver Parizek has limited opponents to just three hits in 10.2 innings, and has just one walk opposite 19 Ks.
15	Pitt (NC)	7-1	Pitt lost its first game this week, 8-3 at Louisburg (NC), but had been off to a 7-0 start before that. Ryker Galaska and Martin Zelenka each have three homers and both are slugging over .730; JJ Rivera has three doubles and a homer, with 10 RBIs. Starter Will Gervase has a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings with 16 Ks.
16	Parkland (IL)	2-0	Parkland won both its openers against Sauk Valley last weekend, with Lansing (MI) and Lake Land (IL) on deck this weekend.
17	Paradise Valley (AZ)	12-7	Paradise Valley has won three straight after a three-game losing streak, now 12-7 overall. They started 2023 on the wrong foot, suffering a four-game sweep to D1 No. 23 Pima (AZ); they face D2 No. 20 Chandler-Gilbert (AZ) twice this weekend. Rob Liddington already has tallied five homers this season, with five doubles on top of it to generate 15 RBIs and 22 runs scored, and he's also swiped eight bags. Drew Bond has 14 RBIs as well, and a pair of home runs. Liam O'Brien has a 3.00 ERA in 27 innings and he's recorded 37 Ks; staffmate Sam Lachot has allowed one earned run in 20.1 innings, to go along with 22 punch-outs.
18	Hinds (MS)	9-2	Hinds took two of three against St. Charles (MO) to start its season, though they did out-score them 29-10 overall. They went on to split with Mississippi Delta and have won four straight since that series, including a make-up against St. Charles. Five different Eagles have home runs already this season, and Dylan Coleman, Clay Benson, and Cameron Hill each have a pair. Those three, as well as Connor Chisolm, are slugging over .700; Chisolm leads the team with a .667 OBP and 23 runs scored aided by 11 stolen bases.
19	Florida State at Jacksonville	3-10	It's been a tough start for FSCJ inside the gauntlet that is Florida's JUCO scene, at 3-10 overall headed into the weekend. After an opening weekend split with Daytona State, Jacksonville has lost four combined to South Georgia State, two more to Daytona, and one-offs with Eastern Florida State, Santa Fe, and Tallahassee State. They've been generating offense, led by Xavier Cintron, who's hitting .404 with 12 RBIs. Jack Gidcumb and Blake Wood each have 10 RBIs and are hitting over .320.
20	Chandler-Gilbert (AZ)	11-4	Chandler-Gilbert is now 11-4 having split their past three series against Arizona JUCO competition: Mesa, GateWay, and Scottsdale. The Coyotes top hitter, so far, has been Dante Turgeon who is hitting .388 with a team-high 15 RBIs, three homers, and four doubles. Jamison Armstrong has four extra-base hits and is 14-for-16 on stolen base attempts this year, and leads the team with 16 runs scored.
21	Phoenix (AZ)	10-7	Phoenix is 10-7 overall, though they've played some difficult contests in the early going, with quality losses to the likes of D1 No. 1 Central Arizona, though they were swept in two games to D2 No. 20 Chandler-Gilbert (AZ) and D1 South Mountain (AZ). They've won three of four against Arizona programs, including two against Mesa and a split with GateWay. Casey Wayne leads the Bears with 17 RBIs and six extra-base hits (two home runs), and he's added nine steals.
22	UA Rich Mountain (AR)	3-3	Rich Mountain is 3-3 overall, rebounding after a two-game sweep to Northeast Texas, followed by a two-game sweep of their own to Arkansas State-Mountain and a recent loss to Eastern Oklahoma State. They're hitting .338 as a team, however, and freshman Trevor Flake stands outs with a team-high 11 hits, nine RBIs, and three steals. Casey Shipley has three doubles and a homer himself.
23	Des Moines Area (IA)	4-4	Des Moines opened its season with two wins over Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, but dropped its next two, and they've followed it up with series splits against North Central Texas and D3 No. 5 Dallas-Eastfield. Both Mitchell Cummins and Reed Stallman have recorded three homers each; Cummins leads the team with 13 RBIs, three doubles, and nine total hits.
24	Kankakee (IL)	-	Kankakee's season starts on March 3 with neutral site games against Parkland (IL) and Harper (IL), and a trip to Carterville, Ill., for games against Carl Sandburg (IL) and host John A. Logan (IL).
25	Delaware Tech	6-3	Delaware Tech is 6-3 so far this season, starting out by taking three of four against Cecil (MD), follwed up by splits against Atlantic Cape (NJ) and Anne Arundel (MD). Kory Pritchard is one of two Delaware Tech players slugging over .800; he has three doubles and three homers in the early going. Will Turner is the other, with six extra-base hits that include four doubles. Mason Morris is also enjoying a quick start, with four extra-base hits and seven RBIs.