The 2025 season is nearing as we approach the final month plus of the preseason. As of this writing, over 175 teams have posted their 2025 schedules. Within that, let's look at some interesting finds from the available schedules.
Tampa will travel to the opposite coast of the US to play at Cal State San Marcos.
The defending National Champion Tampa Spartans will do something that is a bit of a rarity in D2 Baseball, a series where they will travel across the country. They will play fellow West Regional team from last year, Cal State San Marcos. While the importance for scheduling in-region games is paramount for potential postseason berths, a series like this is great for Division II Baseball. Since it is so regionalized with the postseason, fans know little information about teams in separate regions, especially two that are nearly 2,500 miles away.
Tampa's full schedule: https://www.tampaspartans.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/schedule
CSUSM's full schedule: https://csusmcougars.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2025
Palm Beach Atlantic will play their entire regular season in the state of Florida.
The Sailfish, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, will not leave the state of Florida for the entirety of their schedule. They play their first 11 games at home before traveling to Saint Leo (in Saint Leo, FL) as their first road series. They also make trips to Fort Lauderdale, FL (Nova Southeastern), Boca Raton, FL (Lynn), Lakeland, FL (Florida Southern), and Winter Park, FL (Rollins). Of their 45 games listed, they will play 30 at home and 15 all on the road, all in Florida. For context, it was mentioned earlier that Tampa will travel 2,470 miles to San Marcos, CA. Across their entire schedule, Palm Beach Atlantic will travel approximately 1,271 miles the entire regular season (including the travel back).
See their full schedule: https://pbasailfish.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2025
The PacWest will play 44 conference games.
With the recent addition of Vanguard, Jessup, and Menlo to the conference and Division II ranks, the PacWest now have 12 teams in the conference for baseball. With that being said, the conference has shifted from a 32 game conference schedule to a 44 game conference schedule, as each school will play the other 11 schools 4 times each (the second most behind the Lone Star's 48-game conference schedule). Of a 50 game schedule, there will now be a max of six non-conference games. Within the West Region, the CCAA plays 40 conference games and the GNAC plays 32 conference games.
Every School in the RMAC's longest road trip is at least 475 miles.
All nine schools in the RMAC will have to travel at least 475 miles for their furthest road trip.
In the South Central Region, their conference mate in the Lone Star Conference has 48 conference games, which means non-conference games are hard to find.
With the PacWest going to a 44-game conference schedule and the CCAA at a 40 game conference schedule, there is a lot of difficulty to find teams nearby. The distances listed assume drive distance, NOT flight distance to the main university's campus. Here's a breakdown of every RMAC school's longest road trip.
School | Distance | Location |
Colorado School of Mines | 1,041.4 miles | San Marcos, CA |
Regis | 1,012 miles | Los Angeles, CA |
Colorado Mesa | 916 miles | Chico, CA |
Colorado Springs | 828 miles | Tucson, AZ |
CSU Pueblo | 782.6 miles | Tucson, AZ |
Colorado Christian | 729.5 miles | Claremore, OK |
MSU Denver | 706.8 miles | Shawnee, OK |
Adams State | 503.7 miles | Weatherford, OK |
New Mexico Highlands | 475 miles | Bethany, OK |
Opening Weekend Neutral Site Matchups/Invitationals to Look out for:
Early in the season, we have a few neutral site/invitational matchups on the horizon. Here are some examples below.
Houston Winter Invitational (Jan 31-Feb 2):
Minute Maid Park will host the 13th annual Houston Winter Invitational hosted by Central Missouri, as the Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is an alum of Central Missouri.
The field will feature five regular season conference champion & postseason teams from a year ago. Plus it will feature a rematch in the Central Super Regional between Arkansas-Monticello and Central Missouri (listed in alphabetical order with 2024 record and other info):
Arkansas-Monticello (35-24, GAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions; Central Super Regional Appearance)
Arkansas Tech (38-20, GAC Regular Season Champions; Central Regional Appearance)
Ashland (42-15, G-MAC Regular Season Champions; Midwest Regional Appearance)
Central Missouri (52-10, MIAA Regular Season Champions; Central Region Champions; CWS Appearance)
Jefferson (33-17, CACC South Regular Season Champions; East Regional Appearance) Mississippi College (20-25)
Schedule (All Times CT, more info will be released on tickets and more):
Fri, Jan 31:
Arkansas-Monticello vs Mississippi College - 10 AM
Arkansas Tech vs Jefferson - 1:30 PM
Ashland vs Central Missouri - 5 PM
Sat, Feb 1:
Arkansas Tech vs Ashland - 10 AM
Arkansas-Monticello vs Central Missouri - 1:30 PM Jefferson vs Mississippi College - 5 PM
Sun, Feb 2:
Arkansas-Monticello vs Ashland - 10 AM
Central Missouri vs Jefferson - 1:30 PM
Arkansas Tech vs Mississippi College - 5 PM
Edmond First Pitch Classic/UCO Festival (Jan 31-Feb 3):
The 7th annual Edmond First Pitch Classic will kick off Friday, January 31st at the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma. The field will feature mostly GAC and MIAA schools with the exception of MSU Denver. The schedule is TBD.
The current teams in the field (subject to change) are (2024 record listed in parentheses + other info):
Central Oklahoma (37-16, Central Regional Appearance)
East Central (9-41)
Emporia State (21-29)
MSU Denver (28-24, RMAC Tournament Appearance)
Northeastern State (20-30)
Oklahoma Baptist (32-20, GAC Tournament Appearance)
Pittsburg State (34-18, MIAA Tournament Appearance)
Southeastern Oklahoma State (17-32)
Mike Dugan Invitational (Jan 31-Feb 3):
The 4th annual Mike Dugan Collegiate Baseball Invitational will kick off January 31st at Majestic Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Schedule is TBD.
The current teams in the field (subject to change) are (2024 record listed in parentheses + other info):
Arkansas Fort Smith (26-28, Lone Star Tournament Appearance, 1st season in MIAA)
Henderson State (27-23, GAC Tournament Appearance)
Missouri Southern (44-15, MIAA Tournament Champions; Central Regional Host)
Ouachita Baptist (28-23, GAC Tournament Appearance)
Southern Arkansas (30-20, GAC Tournament Appearance)
Washburn (32-21, MIAA Tournament Appearance)
Any other games we should look out for? Let us know.
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