Mississippi College swung the bats pretty well last week. Mississippi College photo by Aaron Boersma

Last week Around the Nation’s focus turned to the effects of the BBCOR bats on D-III offenses. With few exceptions, offenses were suppressed with the new standard. But in a preview of several coaches’ sentiments that will be featured in the fourth and final installment of the series later this month, some teams have put up some tremendous run totals early in 2012. Whatever ancillary factors are involved, be they weather conducive to offense, lack of pitching talent or combinations thereof, it hasn’t been rare to see teams producing video-game scores this season.

Mississippi College scored 36 in a game last week, and 15 other programs have scored 20-plus in a game in March alone. Then again there were more than 120 games from March 1-4 in which the losing D-III team scored two or fewer runs, according to the D3baseball.com scoreboard.

The BBCOR series continues this week after the weekly features.

My top 5 games of the week (March 7-13):
March 8: No. 6 UW-Whitewater vs. No. 25 St. Thomas Combined 7 finals and 3 titles since 2000.
March 9: No. 1 Marietta vs. No. 10 Piedmont Pitching abundant; in-region too.
March 10: No. 2 Kean vs. No. 8 Eastern Connecticut 376-116 combined record from 2007-11.
March 10: No. 16 Wheaton (Mass.) vs. No. 24 Cortland Non-region but marquee matchup.
March 10: No. 14 Keystone vs. No. 20 Alvernia AU may need this one if not Pool A.

My Week 2 top 10 ballot (D3baseball.com rank):
Stats, musings and folly valid through Sunday, the poll’s cutoff
1 (1). Marietta – Led each inning of opening three-game sweep.
2 (4). Trinity (Texas) – Proved resolve in Chapman series.
3 (25). St. Thomas – A week of strong WIAC foes ahead.
4 (2). Kean – Another one-run loss last week.
5 (16). Wheaton (Mass.) – Opens on Friday.
6 (22). Thomas More – I’m on board.
7 (10). Piedmont – .208 OBA despite Millsaps rout.
8 (3). Christopher Newport – Racked up four in-region wins.
9 (5). Linfield – Dropped two to Pacific.
10 (7). UW-Stevens Point – Pitchers led way to 2-0 start.
Rest of my ballot: Coe, Misericordia, Aurora, Illinois Wesleyan, Adrian, St. John Fisher, Keystone, Eastern Connecticut, Rowan, Cortland, Mount Union, Bridgewater (Va.), Alvernia, Western New England, Cal Lutheran.

Last Team Standing (3+ wins through 3/6): Dubuque (7-0), Rowan (7-0), Wittenberg (5-0), Eastern Connecticut (4-0), Ramapo (4-0), Scranton (4-0), SUNY-Maritime (4-0), Westminster-PA (4-0), Concordia Chicago (3-0), Illinois College (3-0), Marietta (3-0), Mount St. Vincent (3-0), Principia (3-0), St. Vincent (3-0).

Last Team Sitting (3+ losses through 3/6): Caltech (0-15), Rust (0-11), CCNY (0-9), MSOE (0-8), Martin Luther (0-8), Penn State Altoona (0-6), Rockford (0-6), Greenville (0-5), SUNYIT (0-5), Yeshiva (0-5), Carroll (0-4), Castleton (0-4), Eastern Nazarene (0-4), Emerson (0-4), Finlandia (0-4), Medaille (0-4), Nebraska Wesleyan (0-4), Penn State Berks (0-4), Baruch (0-3), D’Youville (0-3), Lyndon (0-3), Ohio Northern (0-3), Oswego (0-3), Presentation (0-3), Rutgers-Camden (0-3).

Minors spotlight:
Marietta pitcher Mike DeMark, Triple-A Reno Aces (Diamondbacks): DeMark signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres in 2007 following a four-year career at Marietta. He reached Triple-A with the Padres before his release in 2011. The Arizona Diamondbacks signed DeMark in June 2011 and promoted him from Double-A to Triple-A in August. In his four-year Marietta career, DeMark went 31-3 with three saves, a 2.53 earned run average and 262 strikeouts in 249 innings pitched. He also tossed a no-hitter against Thiel in 2004. During DeMark’s four years, Marietta went 138-45-1 and won the national title in 2006, his senior season.

DeMark was honored as the Diamondbacks’ top minor league relief pitcher as an organizational all-star in 2011. At Double-A Mobile in 2011, DeMark went 3-2 with 15 saves and a 1.85 ERA while striking out 48 batters in 34 innings.  He also tossed two scoreless innings for Triple-A Reno late last season. In his five-year pro career, DeMark is 9-8 with 16 saves, a 2.68 ERA and 305 strikeouts in 282.2 innings pitched spanning 234 relief appearances. His pro career highlights include a league Pitcher of the Week award while with the Padres organization in 2009. DeMark is a non-roster invitee at Diamondbacks spring training in 2012.

Over the next two weeks Around the Nation will delve into specific numbers and analyze research results from specific conferences and teams. This week the focus is on the Midwest, West, South and Mideast regions.

Around the Nation researched the statistical effects of the BBCOR standard bats for 77 teams from eight conferences. One conference from each of the eight regions was selected to form a blend of traditionally high- and low-scoring conferences. To measure the effects of the BBCOR standard bats that the NCAA mandated for play in 2011, team three-year per game averages (2008-10) in home runs, runs and hits were compared to 2011 per-game averages. Twenty D-III head coaches from around the country responded to inquiries, and their comments, opinions and experiences will help interpret the research. The coaches’ input volume will differ from conference to conference due to varied levels of response to Around the Nation’s inquiries.

Midwest Region: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) scoring was down from its three-year average by more than one run in 2011. Home runs per game declined by about 35 percent, and team hits per game fell by just over 0.75. The MIAC is a relative pitchers’ conference traditionally, but teams averaged just 5.01 runs per game with the BBCOR standard bats in 2011.

The decline in MIAC offensive numbers in 2011 affected the majority. Two MIAC teams increased their home runs per game, which tied the Little East Conference for the most in the study. One team MIAC team increased its hits per game. Two teams, Bethel and Hamline, increased their runs per game, but Hamline’s contribution to the plus side of scoring was a whopping 0.008 runs per game over its three-year average. However, that bump was enough to count the Pipers among the 12 teams that increased their scoring in the 77-team national research sample.

“I do believe the new bats led to lower scoring in the MIAC,” says Saint Mary’s (Minn.) head coach Nick Winecke.

Winecke’s team was one of the MIAC’s least affected by the new bats. In fact, Saint Mary’s (Minn.) was the lone MIAC team to see an increase in hits per game. The Cardinals’ scoring and home runs per game also depreciated at a lesser rate than most of their conference counterparts. The explanation for why doesn’t have to be complex.

“SMU had better hitters than we have had in the past in our program,” Winecke says. “Another aspect that helped us increase hits per game, and also allowing us to not suffer a huge hit in runs per game, was our overall team speed.”

Six of the 77 teams in the sample increased their home runs per game over their three-year averages in 2011. Macalester was one of them after launching 16 homers in 2011, but Macs head coach Matt Parrington is quick to qualify and quantify his team’s feat.

“We have a unique situation at Mac,” he says. “The dimensions of our field and height of our fences are greater determining factors in offensive output than the bats. The new bats were not an issue with our program.”  

St. Olaf’s offensive decline was the sharpest in the conference across the board. The Oles were down more than two runs and two hits per game from their three-year averages, and their home runs per game dropped by more than 60 percent. But St. Olaf head coach Matt McDonald isn’t ruing the old bat standard.

“Some of our guys who were successful just getting the ball in play off of the handle or end of the bat struggled,” McDonald says. “Even though St. Olaf struggled with the new bats last year, I like the changes.”

St. Thomas also saw across-the-board declines that were worse than the MIAC average. The Tommies’ scoring and hits per game both decreased by more than one per game. St. Thomas tied for the MIAC lead with 16 home runs in 2011 but that was well off its three-year pace. The Tommies got off to a rocky 8-13 start with the new bats but they still found a way to advance to regionals after a focus adjustment.

“In most years,” says St. Thomas head coach Chris Olean, “we would have maybe five or six guys who could hit home runs, and now we really only have two or three. It has changed our approach in terms of focusing on doing the little things right and not beating ourselves.

“Offensively, our guys just need to know how they can contribute to the team offense, whether it’s bunting, drawing a walk, stealing a base, or getting a guy over. Our focus has really changed to team offense instead of individual stats.” 

The MIAC’s other 2011 NCAA participant, Hamline, stayed true to its three-year averages in hits and runs per game with the BBCOR bats. The Pipers did it while hitting just five home runs, which represented a 33 percent per-game decrease.

"We had a tremendous year,” says Hamline head coach Jason Verdugo. “I'm certainly proud of the fact that, despite the bat change, we're one of a few teams that was able to improve their offensive production."

Verdugo credits the planning that he, his staff and players put into finding solutions before the impending bat change. Verdugo placed calls to coaches around the country to see what they were doing in preparation of the switch.

“Some of the things that we did in terms of coaching was trying to create a run every single inning," Verdugo says. "In certain cases it was just us putting balls in play on a consistent basis and forcing other teams to handle the baseball.

"We really emphasized making sure that our guys were very fit and making sure that they got in the weight room,” Verdugo adds, “and making sure they were strong enough with the bat change and being able to handle that from a strength standpoint, so that they'd be able to hit with wood."

West Region: American Southwest Conference (ASC) statistics were all over the board with the new bats, but that’s to be expected in a 15-team conference. Some offensive numbers were way down while a few teams actually found success with the BBCOR standard bats. Mississippi College was one of three in the 77-team sample to improve home runs, hits and runs per game over its three-year averages. But for every Mississippi College, there were several ASC teams that saw steep declines. ASC team home runs per game dropped more than any of the other seven conferences in the research sample.

Mississippi College was one of six teams in the sample, and the only ASC team, that increased its home runs per game. The Choctaws led the nation with 50 homers to outpace its three-year per-game average by about 33 percent. However, per-game home runs were down nearly 50 percent from the three-year average across the ASC. Texas Dallas averaged more than one home run per game from 2008-10. With the BBCOR bats in 2011, the Comets hit less than one every three games. Texas Dallas was not unique in that regard. ASC home runs per game declined by 0.44 per team, but nine ASC programs saw a dip of more than 0.50 per game.

ASC team hits per game fared a bit better. Twelve of the 77 teams in the research study increased their hits per game. Three were from the ASC. Mississippi College, Sul Ross State and Schreiner all saw significant gains in relation to three-year averages. Schreiner was up nearly one hit per contest. Mississippi and Sul Ross State improved the stat by more than .06 per game. Those three curbed the overall ASC decline to .08 team hits per game, but two teams – Texas Lutheran and McMurry – had their hits cut by more than two per game from three-year averages. Hits per game for four other ASC teams fell by more than one.

Texas Lutheran head coach Greg Burnett says the introduction of the BBCOR standard coincided with inevitable roster turnover in his program to create an even greater scoring challenge.

“It was the perfect storm for us,” Burnett says. “Our graduating classes of 2009 and 2010 saw us lose some very good hitters. I thought we would take a step back in offensive ability (speed, power, quality contact, etc.) after 2010, and the new bats left us playing a game that was more station-to-station. Even with the BESR bats, I think we likely would have seen our runs per game numbers drop in 2011 … just not as significantly.”

Like with hits per game, several ASC teams improved their scoring with the BCCOR standard bats. Twelve of the 77 teams in the national sample improved their runs per game from three-year averages in 2011. Four of those teams hail from the ASC. Mississippi College, Sul Ross State, Schreiner and Louisiana College all increased their scoring averages in 2011. However, Mississippi, up 0.92 runs per game, was the only one of the group to score more than 0.33 runs per game than its three-year average. There were also tremendous scoring decreases in the ASC.

Texas Lutheran was one of three teams in the 77-team sample to see its scoring drop more than three runs from its three-year average. Ozarks, McMurry, Texas Dallas, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons saw their 2011 scoring drop by well over two runs per game from their three-year averages. When factoring the high and lows of the scoring changes with the new bats, the ASC saw its team runs per game fall by 1.26 per game in relation to the three-year average, which was better than two other conferences in the sample.

Those numbers with the BBCOR standard bats have at least one ASC coach rethinking strategy.

“Prior to last year,” says Burnett, “I really leaned more towards offensive players and was guilty in some cases of playing the better hitter over a defensive player. In 2011, however, we kept some guys in the lineup because I thought they helped us defensively despite some offensive struggles.”

But like his own team’s roster turnover that, in part, led to a down offensive season in Seguin, Texas, Burnett says fear not – the ASC was bound to see some declines eventually, new bats or not.

“I also think the ASC lost some of the best run producers from 2008-10 seasons in the conference's history,” says Burnett. “Now, I realize those guys playing in 2011 wouldn't have had the same power numbers they had with the BESR bats. However, there some great D3 hitters during the 2008-2010 seasons, and I'm not sure the ASC wouldn't have were seen a decrease in offensive production in 2011 regardless of the change in bats. Not only us but McMurry, Sul Ross State, Concordia-Texas, UT-Tyler, UT-Dallas, Mississippi College, Hardin-Simmons, Mary Hardin-Baylor all graduated some of the best hitters in the history of the ASC after the those seasons, and I'm not sure their replacements played at the same level in 2011. Those coaches might disagree.”

South Region: Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) teams weathered the new bats better than most in Around the Nation’s research. ODAC team home runs per game were slashed in half from its three-year average, and scoring and hits per game were still down with the BBCOR standard bats in 2011. But the ODAC declines in hits and runs per game were well below the national sample. ODAC scoring was down by just over three-quarters of a run per team. ODAC hits per game decreased by about .05 per contest. Data suggests that that counts as a successful first season with the new bats.

The biggest ODAC success story was Emory & Henry, which was one of three teams in the 77-team sample to improve home runs, hits and runs per game over its three-year average. The Wasps had only modest gains in each of the three statistics, but they were the only ODAC team to improve in home runs per game and any improvements in offensive production was rare across the country. The Wasps were one of six teams in the 77-team national sample to increase home run production over their 2008-10 per game average.

Emory & Henry head coach Trey McCall was surprised to learn his team was one of the major BBCOR standard bat success stories. McCall chalked it up to the progression of his program and a dash of star power.

“Wow,” McCall says. “Part of our improvement was a freshman who led the team in home runs [and] the maturation of some young guys who had been thrown into the fire early on in their collegiate careers.”

Offsetting Emory & Henry’s home run gain were some precipitous declines. Randolph-Macon’s, Lynchburg’s and Hampden-Sydney’s home runs per game fell by more than 60 percent from their three-year averages. Hampden-Sydney saw a 78 percent decline in home runs per game from its 2008-10 average. Despite being down in the homer department, the ODAC managed to keep in check its hits and runs per game depreciation.

Twelve teams in the national sample outpaced their three-year averages in hits per game. Four of those were from the ODAC: Emory & Henry, Hampden-Sydney, Guilford and Randolph-Macon. Guilford was one of two teams (Western Connecticut was the other) in the national sample to increase hits with the new bats by more than one per game over its three-year average. Three of the ODAC’s 10 teams – Lynchburg, Bridgewater (Va.), and Roanoke – saw their hits decline by more than one per game. Lynchburg was one of seven teams in the 77-team national sample to see hits fall by more than two per game from its three-year average.

Lynchburg also saw its scoring decline by more than two runs per game, but 15 of the 77 teams in the national research suffered that fate. Bridgewater (Va.), Roanoke and Virginia Wesleyan were also down by more than one run per game from their three-year averages. Emory & Henry and Guilford were two of the 12 teams in the national sample to increase their runs per game, and Guilford was one of four teams in the national research to increase runs per game by more than 0.5 over its three-year average.

Mideast Region: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) offenses may have been affected the most by the BBCOR standard bats. Traditionally a low-scoring conference akin to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the MIAA suffered the largest percentage losses in home runs, hits and runs per game among the eight conferences in the research. MIAA home runs were down about 70 percent. The three-year average for MIAA team hits was 8.9 per game from 2008-10. That number fell to 7.7 with the new bats. Team scoring dropped from 5.7 per game over the previous three years to 4.4 in 2011. Each MIAA team saw a reduction in home runs, hits and runs per game last season in relation to their three-year averages.

The eight-team MIAA combined to hit 41 home runs with the BBCOR standard bats. Kalamazoo, Olivet and Trine each hit two or fewer. All MIAA teams hit at least 10 home runs in 2010. From 2008-10 MIAA teams reached double digits in home runs 20 times out of the 24 combined chances. Adrian and Hope tied for the 2011 lead with 10 homers in 2011. Few MIAA programs had hit more than 20 homers in a season (Adrian thrice; Calvin and Trine once) from 2008-10, but the drop-off was no less discernible. From 2008-10 Albion had the fewest home runs by an MIAA team in one season – six in 2008. Five MIAA teams six or fewer in 2011.

Albion head coach Scott Carden thinks the bats played a part in the conference’s home run decline.

“I think the biggest thing it did was eliminate balls that often were down in the gap,” says Carden, whose team’s home run production fell by about 40 percent from its three-year average. “So many balls that seemed well hit off the bat turned into lazy fly balls. We have always focused on driving the balls in the gaps, and so many times now those balls were just easy outs.

“We also had a decent number of guys that would have two to three home runs a year,” Carden adds, “and those guys are almost completely gone. Unless the conditions are right (wind blowing correctly, small field) only the legitimate home run hitters are hitting them regularly."

Kalamazoo, Hope and Alma were the only MIAA teams to not have their hits decline by more than one per game last season from their three-year averages. Olivet’s hits were down 2.7 per game from its three-year average, but that wasn’t rare. Nine percent of the 77 teams in Around the Nation’s research were down two or more hits per game. Each MIAA team averaged more than eight hits per game from 2008-10. Only Adrian, Hope and Kalamazoo averaged better than eight hits per game in 2011.

Olivet’s scoring with the new bats in 2011 was also cut drastically. The Comets averaged 5.9 runs per game over the previous three seasons but scored just 2.6 per game last year. Six of the eight MIAA teams had averaged at least 5.5 runs per game from 2008-10. Adrian and Hope were the only programs to reach that figure in 2011. Four MIAA teams averaged fewer than four runs per game last season. Olivet and Trine were among 15 of the 77-team research sample to see their scoring decline by more than two runs per game from their three-year averages. 

Next week: A look at the BBCOR-related numbers in the Central, Mid-Atlantic, New York and New England regions.