PEMBROKE, N.C. (NCBWA) – A road series loss was not enough to knock defending national champion North Greenville out of the top spot in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25, but Angelo State closed the gap at the top by picking up five first-place votes in Wednesday’s Week 8 edition of the poll.
The Crusaders, who dropped the last two games of its road series with Mount Olive on Saturday, still managed to rake in 15 of the available 20 first-place votes this week, but saw their lead at the top significantly whittled down to just 15 points. Tampa fell one spot to No. 3 in the listing, while Missouri Southern State and Millersville rounded out the top 5.
Lenoir-Rhyne (No. 15), West Georgia (No. 17) and Point Loma (No. 24) returned to the national ranking after short hiatuses, while Minnesota State (No. 25) jumped back into the Top 25 for the first time since the preseason edition of the ranking.
Young Harris (No. 23) made an appearance in the NCBWA Top 25 for the first time in the 21-year history of the poll.
| 2023 NCBWA DIVISION II POLL (APRIL 5) | |||||
| Rk. | School [1st place] | Location | Record | Pts. | Pvs. |
| 1. | North Greenville [15] | Tigerville, S.C. | 31-4 | 494 | 1 |
| 2. | Angelo State [5] | San Angelo, Texas | 30-4 | 479 | 3 |
| 3. | Tampa | Tampa, Fla. | 24-6 | 462 | 2 |
| 4. | Missouri Southern State | Joplin, Mo. | 27-8 | 431 | 4 |
| 5. | Millersville | Millersville, Pa. | 25-4 | 389 | 6 |
| 6. | Newberry | Newberry, S.C. | 29-5 | 381 | 8 |
| 7. | Cal State San Bernardino | San Bernardino, Calif. | 23-8 | 376 | 5 |
| 8. | St. Edward's | Austin, Texas | 27-6 | 346 | 9 |
| 9. | Quincy | Quincy, Ill. | 20-6 | 341 | 7 |
| 10. | Southern Arkansas | Magnolia, Ark. | 24-9 | 314 | 10 |
| 11. | Rollins | Winter Park, Fla. | 22-9 | 299 | 11 |
| 12. | Wayne State | Detroit, Mich. | 19-3 | 244 | 17 |
| 13. | Colorado Mesa | Grand Junction, Colo. | 23-8 | 227 | 16 |
| 14. | East Stroudsburg | East Stroudsburg, Pa. | 22-4 | 221 | 15 |
| 15. | Lenoir-Rhyne | Hickory, N.C. | 29-8 | 218 | RV |
| 16. | New Haven | New Haven, Conn. | 18-5 | 208 | 22 |
| 17. | West Georgia | Carrollton, Ga. | 25-7 | 184 | RV |
| 18. | Central Missouri | Warrensburg, Mo. | 24-9 | 174 | 24 |
| 19. | Cal State Monterey Bay | Seaside, Calif. | 18-9 | 137 | 25 |
| 20. | Illinois-Springfield | Sprinfield, Ill. | 22-8 | 125 | 21 |
| 21. | Montevallo | Montevallo, Ark. | 27-7 | 113 | 24 |
| 22. | Franklin Pierce | Rindge, N.H. | 16-7 | 71 | 12 |
| 23. | Young Harris | Young Harris, Ga. | 25-10 | 58 | NR |
| 24. | Point Loma | San Diego, Calif. | 19-9 | 35 | NR |
| 25. | Minnesota State | Crookston, Minn. | 19-6 | 34 | NR |
| Also receiving votes: Valdosta State (20-9) 28; Mount Olive (24-8) 27; UT Tyler (24-12) 22; Southern New Hampshire (19-8) 17; Arkansas Tech (23-12) 12; Seton Hill (18-7) 12; Grand Valley State (16-6) 6; MSU Denver (26-8) 6; Azusa Pacific (20-14) 5; Florida Southern (22-9) 4. | |||||
| Dropped out: Columbus State (13); Arkansas Tech (18); Azusa Pacific (19); UNC Pembroke (20); Valdosta State (23). | |||||
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