The parity of the 2026 DII baseball season has been a joy for fans and a nightmare for those trying to make sense of any sort of rankings. There continues to be roughly 35 teams with a legitimate shot at finding their way to Cary, and this week showed exactly why. Last week’s No. 6, Central Missouri, went 1-3, losing a pivotal MIAA series to Rogers State, while former No. 7 West Florida was swept by a Lee team clinging to postseason life.
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Colorado Mesa continues to win, keeping the Mavericks locked in at No. 1 in this week’s DII baseball Power 10 rankings. Eight of the remaining nine teams shift a spot. As a reminder, the Power 10 rankings are compiled by myself; however, I do take other ratings into consideration — such as Faktor Sports KPI, both of Inkblot Sports, RPI and PI and Pear Ratings NET — to cast a wide net and help show you the metrics that make a Power 10 different than a poll that is voted upon. While close, it is very rarely identical to the national polls, so I try to explain the rationale in as much detail as I can.
DII baseball Power 10 rankings through April 5
No. 1 Colorado Mesa | Previous: 1. The Mavericks are on a 16-game winning streak overall, but after another 4-0 weekend (one in which they scored 54 runs), they have extended their DII winning streak to 33 games. Their lone loss in between came to a DI school. The Mavericks are in the top five in NET and KPI, as well as having a top five RPI and PI in the South Central. They are top 10 in batting average, on-base percentage and scoring, but also are in the top 10 in ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio with the No. 17 WHIP in DII. Simply put, this team’s dominance comes from a balanced attack and arguably the most well-put together team of coach Chris Hanks latest run… which says a lot.
No. 2 North Greenville | Previous: 4. The Trailblazers had a monster week. They went 4-0 with wins against tournament contender Lander and nationally ranked Young Harris. They have the top NET in DII and the No. 1 RPI and PI in the Southeast Region, a region that has seven teams in the top 10 NET, three teams in the top 10 KPI and eight teams in the top 25. They have hitting, and they have pitching, but they have arguably the toughest conference and toughest region to survive to sniff Cary.
No. 3 Tampa | Previous: 2. Florida Southern is 17-15, so people may not understand how tremendous this weekend series win was for Tampa. Despite being just two games over .500, every metric has the Mocs in the tournament thanks to playing the second toughest schedule in all DII. That makes this a tremendous victory for Tampa, especially in a conference where, by most metrics, the Spartans are trailing both West Florida and Rollins for the No. 1 seed. However, what no one else in the country has is the Tampa pitching staff. The Spartans lead DII in ERA (2.89), WHIP (1.13) and strikeout-to-walk ration (3.43), while posting a .225 batting average against. It will be very hard to beat Tampa in tournament play.
No. 4 (tied) Catawba, Pittsburg State | Previous: 3 and 5, respectively. This is where it gets close. Catawba has played a tough schedule and is in the Southeast Region, where most of the competition, even the unranked, is tough as it is. Both are top six in NET and KPI, and both have top five RPIs and PIs within their region. Both also have meaningful wins, with Pittsburg State downing Emporia State, Southern Arkansas and Central Missouri, and Catawba with wins over Belmont Abbey, Lenoir-Rhyne, Francis Marion and Wingate. Pittsburg State has been swept this season, where Catawba has not, but this spot was still too close to call.
No. 6 West Chester | Previous: 8. The top of the Atlantic Region is going to be a tough race. The Golden Rams are currently atop that race with the better RPI and KPI of the bunch. They have not lost or even split a weekend series all season and are now 22-5 overall. The Golden Rams pitching is very good, which is a big advantage in the Northeast. They have the No. 5 ERA (3.52) in DII and No. 2 WHIP (1.23). They are a bit light on the hitting, but the Golden Rams are more about producing timely runs as opposed to a team that just piles on runs. Either way, they are clearly winners.
No. 7 Cal State Monterey Bay | Previous: 10 (tied). The Otters picked up a huge series win against Cal Poly Pomona, which was No. 3 in the West Region in the last Field of 56 projections. The only team even close to the Otters in selection metrics — who have the No. 1 RPI and PI in the West, the No. 15 overall KPI and No. 16 NET — is Point Loma, which the Otters hold the series edge over this season. They also have series wins against Northwest Nazarene and Fresno Pacific, with a big series lined up against Cal State San Marcos this weekend. A sweep there could almost lock up the No. 1 seed in the West with a little less than a month to go.
No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne | Previous: 9. The Bears, now sitting at 26-8-1, are ranked this high because the metrics deem them worthy. They are No. 2 in RPI and PI in the Southeast Region, No. 3 in NET and No. 12 in KPI. While this team has mixed results in the SAC against some DII heavyweights, you have to ask yourself, how would this team handle the rest of the country? The Bears have some big hitters in the lineup that could feast on lesser pitching, and that was the exact recipe that got them to Cary last year.
No. 9 Grand Valley State | Previous: 10 (tied). There are two ways to look at the Lakers’ week. One is that they went 2-2, which makes it curious that they rise up the rankings. The other way to look at it is that they split with Wayne State (MI), a top 15 team and somehow still not getting the national love it deserves. The Lakers have the metrics, sitting at No. 12 in KPI and NET with the top RPI in the Midwest Region, and have a pretty solid team on both the mound and the lineup. The pitching staff is one of the best in DII, but Wayne State’s is right behind them, so don’t be surprised to see the two meet again in a situation where splitting a series is not an option.
No. 10 UT Tyler | Previous: Next up. This pick isn’t as much about metrics as it is watching the Patriots come together. They just took three of four from UT Dallas, which, if UTD was eligible, would be the three or four seed in a stacked South Central Region. The Patriots haven’t lost a weekend series all season (they have split three), and the only tournament-bound team they have yet to play is St. Mary’s (TX), the team they are a game up on in the Lone Star standings for first place. The two face off in the regular-season finale, which means the conference and No. 2 seed in the South Central could very well be on the line.
Next up (in alphabetical order)
With how deep this baseball season has been, no one seems to be separating themselves. So, instead of the traditional “first five out,” we are taking a deeper dive each week into those just outside the top 10. This week, we have 16 teams to consider.
West Florida and Central Missouri both went 1-3 this week against teams they needed to beat for their tournament resumes. Because of that, they are likely No. 11 and 12 if this were ranked. It is impossible to ignore Rogers State any longer, especially after taking two of three from the Mules. Francis Marion had a big weekend series win over UNC Pembroke, and with Charlie Bussey III, the preseason pick for Conference Carolinas player of the year, hitting everything thrown at him, the Patriots are one to watch. North Georgia picked up a big series sweep over some very good pitching on Georgia Southwestern and have a big edge in the Peach Belt now. That is important because it is looking like the winner of the PBC may be the only team to make the tournament in that loaded Southeast Region.
- Augustana (SD)
- Belmont Abbey
- Central Missouri
- Francis Marion
- Minnesota State
- North Georgia
- Northwest Missouri State
- Point Loma
- Rogers State
- Rollins
- Seton Hill
- Wayne State (MI)
- West Alabama
- West Florida
- Wingate
- Young Harris
Just missed: Angelo State, Eckerd, Emporia State, Florida Southern, Millersville, St. Mary’s (TX), Trevecca Nazarene, Westmont
