PEMBROKE, North Carolina – After taking down last year's NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship runner-up in previously-ranked No. 11 Point Loma Nazarene, the Hawai'i Hilo baseball team moved up three spots to come in at No. 13 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division II Poll released Wednesday morning.
The Vulcans took a 3-1 series victory over PLNU to begin last week before splitting a doubleheader with Azusa Pacific over the weekend.
APU finished out the series with a twinbill sweep of the Vulcans on Monday. Ballots for the weekly poll are submitted by the end of the previous week.
No. 11 Missouri Southern State, No. 19 Florida Southern, No. 21 Indianapolis, No. 23 Newberry and No. 24 Colorado Mesa replaced previously-ranked Central Oklahoma (5), Point Loma Nazarene (11), MSU Denver (13), Molloy (17) and Valdosta State (22).
Reigning National Champion North Greenville (20-2) remained at No. 1 after garnering 500 points and all 20 first-place votes.
In the West Region rankings, the Vulcans moved up one spot to No. 2, swapping with Cal Poly Pomona of the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Cal State University San Bernardino — ranked fourth in the national poll — holds the top spot in the West with Point Loma Nazarene at No. 4 and Azusa Pacific at No. 5.
2023 Baseball Rankings History
| RANK |
WEEK (DATE) |
W-L |
WEST RANK |
PREVIOUS WEEK |
| - |
Week 6 (March 22) |
0-2 |
- |
» APU (L 7-4)
» APU (L 12-2) |
| 13 |
Week 5 (March 15) |
4-2 |
No. 2 |
» No. 11 PLNU (W 2-1)
» No. 11 PLNU (W 6-4)
» No. 11 PLNU (W 3-1)
» No. 11 PLNU (L 7-4)
» APU (L 13-8)
» APU (W 2-1) |
| 16 |
Week 4 (March 8) |
1-0 |
No. 3 |
» Biola (W 7-1) |
| 23 |
Week 3 (March 1) |
3-1 |
No. 4 |
» CUI (W 8-7)
» CUI (W 4-3)
» CUI (W 6-4)
» CUI (L 2-1) |
| NR |
Week 2 (Feb. 22) |
0-0 |
No. 4 |
- |
| 25 |
Week 1 (Feb. 15) |
7-1 |
No. 4 |
» No. 15 Augustana (W 4-0)
» No. 15 Augustana (W 4-3)
» No. 15 Augustana (W 9-6)
» No. 15 Augustana (W 3-1)
» No. 15 Augustana (L 3-7)
» Northwest Nazarene (W 7-6)
» Northwest Nazarene (W 7-5)
» Northwest Nazarene (W 11-3) |
| NR |
Preseason (Jan. 25) |
0-0 |
NR |
- |
Hawai'i Hilo made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II rankings earlier this season at No. 25 after starting with wins over then-15th-ranked Augustana and Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason favorite Northwest Nazarene.
The Vulcans will have a week and a half off before heading over to O'ahu to take on HPU for a three-game non-conference slate.
NATIONAL COLLEGIATE BASEBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Dick Howser Trophy, Regional Players of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors Division II Players of the Week, the Stopper of the Year, and publication and writing contests.
