The Ashland University baseball team was ranked No. 2 in the first edition of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings released on Wednesday (April 24) afternoon.
The top eight teams in the region will qualify for the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament with automatic bids going to the tournament champions of the GLIAC, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The regional tournament will be split into two sites this year with the top two teams that place bids earning the right to host. That will be held May16-18. The winners of each four-team regional will meet for a three-game series in the super regional round May 24-25.
The Eagles (32-7) are in the midst of one of the best seasons in program history, ranking third in Division II in winning percentage (.821) and already just one win short of last year's win total when they went to the regional tournament as the No. 6 seed.
Ashland still has two four-game series left in GLIAC play before the conference tournament begins May 9 in Traverse City, Mich.
Wayne State, which beat Ashland three times in GLIAC play, is ranked No. 1 in the Midwest Region with Northwood (No. 5) as the only other GLIAC team in the rankings.
The Eagles are aiming for their 17th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and 16th under head coach John Schaly, who is in his 22nd year at the helm.
Ashland, which maintains a 1.5-game lead in the GLIAC standings, travels to Northwood on Friday (April 26) to start a four-game series at Northwood.
The full NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings follow.
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