Ranked teams assert control

Ryan Reitmeyer had three hits as Kean evened their home-away series with a 10-1 win over Richard Stockton. Kean athletics photo

D3Baseball.com’s top 25 schedule was light Friday, with No. 5-ranked Southern Maine being the highest ranked squad in action.The Huskies rolled in Little East Conference action, pounding out 31 hits and scoring 21 runs in a 13-1, 8-3 sweep of Keene State.  No. 8-ranked Kean was the only other top 10 squad in action, rebounding from an 11-6 loss to Richard Stockton Thursday to gain a 10-1 win in New Jersey Athletic Conference action.

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• Friday's scores
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Looking further down the Top 25, No. 11-ranked Rowan joined their NJAC rivals as a winner in league play, topping the College of New Jersey 7-2, to sweep their two-game set; Bowdoin’s John Lefeber drove in the game-winning run in the 12^th as Bowdoin surprised No. 13 Tufts 4-3; No. 14-ranked Shenandoah reached the 30-win mark for the fifth time in the last six years with a hard-fought 6-3 decision over Washington and Lee in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament; No. 18-ranked Buena Vista and Iowa Conference rival Wartburg opened a critical four-game set at Hertel Field in Waverly with the two sides splitting a twinbill; and No. 21-ranked St. John Fisher saw its recent struggles continue, dropping their third decision in their last five outings with a wild offensive finish against Houghton.

Cortland State outscored Fredonia State 28-1 on Friday. Cortland photo by Darl Zehr Photography

Going around the conferences, the photo finish race to the end continues in the American Southwest Conference. League-leading Concordia (Texas) toppled Sul Ross St., while LeTourneau knocked Mary-Hardin-Baylor out of a three-way for second and Texas-Dallas remained tied with LeTourneau for the second spot.

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In the Centennial Conference, Haverford remained strongly entrenched in second place behind a sparkling effort from Tommy Bergjans as part of a win over Franklin and Marshall - Recap. Keystone kept itself firmly atop the Colonial States Athletic Conference with a win over Neumann.

The two Middle Atlantic Conference divisions saw their leaders pick up wins as the tie between Misericordia and DeSales remained in the Freedom section and Widener claimed a close-knit finish from Messiah in the Centennial section. The NJAC race remains too close to call, too, with Montclair State and Rutgers-Camden winning to stay part of a four-team chase that is separated by just one game that includes Rowan and Kean.

Salve Regina stayed a part of a four-team group battling for the Commonwealth Coast Conference title with a victory over Brandeis, Wesleyan (Conn.) upended Amherst to take the lead in their division, while Tufts’ loss enabled Bates to move just a game back as the Bobcats shutout Colby 5-0 behind Brad Reynolds’ 12 strikeouts.

Wartburg’s win over No. 18-ranked Buena Vista put the Knights just a game behind the Beavers with two more games between the two foes ahead Saturday.

Covenant’s chase for the USA South Conference championship remained alive with a 14-2 win over Averett, St. Joseph’s of Brooklyn kept their Pool B chances alive with an offensive blitzkrieg of 34 runs against Yeshiva.

Senior right-handed pitcher Eddie Nogay became the Washington and Jefferson wins leader Friday night as the Presidents defeated Geneva 16-4 to bring their number to clinch the PAC title to two.