The top teams typically have many of the top players, but there are always a number of athletes who put together superlative seasons on schools who are not amongst their divisions’ Top 25. Along with the updated rankings this week is a look at some of the players from each of the three small school divisions who are compiling All-American numbers for schools not currently ranked. For many of the players mentioned, their remarkable performance on the diamond to date has their club on the cusp of the rankings and they may power their team into national contention before the season is over.
NCAA DII
| Rk | School | State | Record | Lst Week | Prev Rk |
| 1 | Tampa Spartans | FL | 26-2 | 4-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Central Missouri Mules | MO | 26-4 | 4-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Point Loma Sea Lions | CA | 22-7-1 | 4-0 | 3 |
| 4 | North Greenville Crusaders | SC | 22-8 | 1-1 | 6 |
| 5 | Mount Olive Trojans | NC | 20-8 | 4-0 | 10 |
| 6 | Millersville Marauders | PA | 21-5 | 3-2 | 7 |
| 7 | Young Harris Mountain Lions | GA | 24-5 | 3-0 | 8 |
| 8 | Angelo State Rams | TX | 22-10 | 2-1 | 9 |
| 9 | Augustana Vikings | SD | 17-4 | 4-0 | 16 |
| 10 | UNC Pembroke Braves | NC | 21-9 | 1-3 | 5 |
| 11 | Missouri Southern St. Lions | MO | 26-6 | 3-1 | 11 |
| 12 | West Florida Argos | FL | 18-10 | 1-4 | 4 |
| 13 | Colorado Mesa Mavericks | CO | 18-8 | 5-0 | 18 |
| 14 | Ashland Eagles | OH | 16-3 | 4-1 | 14 |
| 15 | St. Leo Lions | FL | 24-4 | 3-1 | 13 |
| 16 | Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes | GA | 24-7 | 4-0 | 17 |
| 17 | Seton Hill Griffins | PA | 14-7 | 2-2 | 12 |
| 18 | West Texas A&M Buffs | TX | 22-8 | 3-1 | 19 |
| 19 | East Stroudsburg Warriors | PA | 19-3 | 4-0 | 25 |
| 20 | Catawba Indians | NC | 22-8 | 3-2 | 20 |
| 21 | Lee Flames | TN | 22-8 | 4-0 | NR |
| 22 | Lander Bearcats | SC | 20-9 | 3-0 | NR |
| 23 | Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks | ID | 19-5-1 | 3-1 | 24 |
| 24 | Lubbock Christian Chaparrals | TX | 19-10 | 1-3 | 23 |
| 25 | Cal State Monterey Bay Otters | CA | 18-10 | 1-3 | 15 |
Dropped: North Georgia (21), Southern Arkansas (22)
While the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doesn’t have any teams in the Top 25, they can lay claim to one of the DII’s most elite offensive performers. Garrett Musey has been an spectacular hitter since arriving at Goldey-Beacom and has earned a pair of All-CACC honors as well as rewritten the Lightning record book. This season he is batting .446 with 17 extra base hits in only 65 at bats for a lofty .954 slugging percentage. With his 24 combined BB/HBP, his robust .589 OB% also ranks among the nation’s leaders. His presence in the lineup is a big reason GB is one of the East Region’s top teams and are leading the conference in total wins.
The Lander Bearcats joined Georgia Southwestern as Peach Belt Conference representatives in the rankings this week to give the conference a pair of teams in the Top 25. Another team being strongly considered, but on the outside for now is Georgia College & State. The Bobcats won a series over GSW recently and swept Flagler last week thanks in part to the performance of Matthew Mebane. After tearing it up at South Georgia State and at Rockford in the Northwoods League, the former MLB Junior Home Run Derby champion is batting .360 with a DII leading 14 home runs. When his nine doubles are added into the computation, he is slugging .768 on the season.
Royal Hobson was a highly ranked prep player who spent some time at Columbia State CC before moving on to Christian Brothers. He put up decent numbers in limited action last season, but has really emerged this year to help the Bucs to one of their best starts in well over a decade. The senior second baseman and leadoff hitter is batting .310 with five doubles and six home runs, and had a 16 game hitting streak earlier this season. He also has a team leading 22 walks to amass a .423 OB%. However, what truly makes him a remarkable player is his speed. His 30 stolen bases lead DII and he has only been caught stealing three times.
The last team out of the rankings this week were the Barton Bulldogs. They have a 24-7 record and played North Greenville tight in a series this past weekend. It’s likely Barton will join the Top 25 soon as they have an incredible pitching staff led by Tanner Halverson. The senior southpaw was one of DII’s top pitchers last season with a 1.71 ERA as he held opposition to a .220 batting average with 10 complete games. This season he has been near unhittable again. Opposition is only managing to hit .229 against him as he has struck out 64 batters in only 48 ⅓ innings with only eight walks. He is also an integral part of the offense. He has a .329 average over three seasons at Barton and is slugging .533 this spring.
NAIA
| Rk | School | State | Record | Lst Week | Prev Rk |
| 1 | Southeastern Fire | FL | 27-2 | 4-0 | 1 |
| 2 | LSU Shreveport Pilots | LA | 25-3 | 4-1 | 2 |
| 3 | Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies | GA | 26-5 | 3-0 | 3 |
| 4 | Cumberlands Patriots | KY | 27-4 | 4-0 | 4 |
| 5 | Faulkner Eagles | AL | 22-8 | 2-1 | 5 |
| 6 | Central Methodist Eagles | MO | 25-4 | 4-0 | 6 |
| 7 | Webber International Warriors | FL | 24-8 | 3-1 | 8 |
| 8 | William Carey Crusaders | MS | 18-10 | 2-1 | 7 |
| 9 | Missouri Baptist Spartans | MO | 21-7 | 4-0 | 9 |
| 10 | Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs | TN | 20-10 | 3-1 | 10 |
| 11 | Doane Tigers | NE | 20-4 | 6-0 | 12 |
| 12 | Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes | KS | 21-7 | 3-0 | 13 |
| 13 | Benedictine Mesa Redhawks | AZ | 22-7 | 4-0 | 14 |
| 14 | William Jessup Warriors | CA | 25-5 | 2-1 | 15 |
| 15 | Lewis-Clark State Warriors | ID | 17-7 | 4-0 | 16 |
| 16 | Loyola Wolf Pack | LA | 21-8 | 4-0 | 17 |
| 17 | Bellevue Bruins | NE | 20-9 | 5-0 | 18 |
| 18 | Hope International Royals | CA | 20-9 | 4-0 | 20 |
| 19 | Vanguard Lions | CA | 22-11 | 3-0 | 19 |
| 20 | Reinhardt Eagles | GA | 20-10 | 3-0 | 21 |
| 21 | Taylor Trojans | IN | 21-9 | 4-0 | 22 |
| 22 | Oklahoma City Stars | OK | 21-10 | 3-0 | 23 |
| 23 | Concordia Bulldogs | NE | 19-8 | 3-3 | 11 |
| 24 | Freed-Hardeman Lions | TN | 23-8 | 1-2 | 25* |
| 25* | Keiser Seahawks | FL | 20-10 | 1-3 | 25* |
| 25* | Ottawa (OUAZ) Spirit | AZ | 21-11 | 0-3 | 24 |
The Blue Mountain College Rams have been an offense juggernaut this season with a team batting average of .347, .576 slugging percentage of .576, and have reached double-digit run total 17 times this year. Leading the onslaught is Arderrius “Peeko” Townsend. The junior, who started his career at Northwest Mississippi CC before spending some time at Jackson State, broke both the school’s home run single-season RBI records just 23 games into the season. The masher is leading the NAIA with 19 home runs in 30 games while batting .456 with seven doubles and a pair of triples. He even has 11 stolen bases. Earlier this year he hit home runs in 10 of 11 games and has deservingly been named the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Week twice while earning the national honor once.
Tabor’s Tyler Mata Lloyd batted .322 last season after transferring from NCAA DI Coppin State where he had hit .310. In 2024 the Colorado native has been one of the NAIA top hitters as he is among the leaders in batting average with a .494 mark. He additionally has 25 walks with only 14 strikeouts and has stolen 19 bases. He is also an elite performer in the middle infield and has earned honors for his defense. Lloyd has helped the Bluejays to an 18-8 record and a third place position in the always competitive Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Columbia was ranked in the preseason, but dropped into “RV” territory after a slower-than-anticipated start. The team scores runs in bunches and it takes quite a bit to stand out on a club which is slugging .629, but Cayden Nicoletto has done just that. The Australian native was an NAIA Second-Team All-American honoree last year, and it looks like he should start clearing out space for a First-Team trophy this year. He is batting .410 with 17 home runs, eight doubles and a triple. His 109 total bases top the team and he currently has a 13 game hitting streak in which he has had multiple hits in 11 of the games.
Oakland City University has never been in the Perfect Game Top 25, but that could change this season as the Mighty Oaks have one of the stingiest pitching staffs in the NAIA. While there are several pitchers worthy of mentioning, two in particular are putting up All-American caliber numbers. Thomas King, who previously pitched at LSU Shreveport and Houston Baptist, has dominated opposition in 2024. He had a 1.77 ERA and 62 strikeouts in only 40 ⅔ innings. Gehrig Tenhumberg has put up just as impressive statistics. In eight starts he has thrown 45 innings while only allowing 30 hits (.188 B/AVG) while only walking 10 batters and striking out 63. The pair has helped the Oaks accumulate a dainty 3.00 ERA while no other school in the River States Conference has one below 5.33.
NCAA DIII
| Rk | School | State | Record | Lst Week | Prev Rk |
| 1 | Endicott Gulls | MA | 12-1 | 3-1 | 2 |
| 2 | Salisbury Seagulls | MD | 16-4 | 3-1 | 3 |
| 3 | Shenandoah Hornets | VA | 16-3 | 2-1 | 4 |
| 4 | Rowan Profs | NJ | 12-2 | 3-0 | 5 |
| 5 | East Texas Baptist Tigers | TX | 17-6 | 2-2 | 1 |
| 6 | Johns Hopkins Blue Jays | MD | 11-6 | 4-2 | 6 |
| 7 | Denison Big Red | OH | 15-2 | 3-0 | 7 |
| 8 | Salve Regina Seahawks | RI | 13-1 | 2-0 | 8 |
| 9 | Lynchburg Hornets | VA | 14-6 | 3-0 | 9 |
| 10 | Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets | OH | 15-3 | 3-0 | 10 |
| 11 | UW LaCrosse Eagles | WI | 8-3 | 4-1 | 11 |
| 12 | La Verne Leopards | CA | 13-4-1 | 3-1 | 13 |
| 13 | Eastern Connecticut Warriors | CT | 9-5 | 3-0 | 15 |
| 14 | UW-Whitewater Warhawks | WI | 9-3 | 0-0 | 14 |
| 15 | Christopher Newport Captains | VA | 13-6 | 2-1 | 12 |
| 16 | Montclair State Red Hawks | NJ | 16-3 | 4-1 | 16 |
| 17 | Aurora Spartans | IL | 12-3 | 2-0 | 17 |
| 18 | Benedictine Eagles | IL | 13-1 | 2-0 | 19 |
| 19 | Trinity Tigers | TX | 14-7 | 3-2 | 20 |
| 20 | Case Western Reserve Spartans | OH | 14-5 | 5-0 | NR |
| 21 | Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens | CA | 19-5 | 3-0 | 23 |
| 22 | Buena Vista Beavers | IA | 14-4 | 3-0 | NR |
| 23 | Misericordia Cougars | PA | 11-7 | 2-0 | 21 |
| 24 | NC Wesleyan Battling Bishops | NC | 15-5 | 2-1 | 25 |
| 25 | Cortland State Red Dragons | NY | 6-8-1 | 0-0 | 24 |
Dropped: Birmingham-Southern (18), Washington (22)
Andrew Mazzone earned All-Centennial Conference honors at Dickinson College (where he also played football) before moving on to Claremont-Mudd Scripps as a graduate student this season. He is currently one of DIII’s top hitters with a .468 average as the Stags have a 15-6 record and are battling for supremacy in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In addition to his outrageously high average, he also has nine of the team’s 21 home runs on the season to amass a .922 slugging percentage which places him third nationally.
Swarthmore’s Aidan Sullivan earned a number of accolades last season including being the Centennial Rookie of the Year and a conference First-Team selection. This spring the sophomore is batting .522 in his first 19 games with 11 doubles, two triples and three home runs in just 67 at bats. He has also walked 25 times and been plunked another six to generate a .673 OB% His OPS is a jaw-dropping 1.554. He even has 13 stolen bases.
Dane Jones has been an impressive performer in his three previous seasons at LeTourneau and hit .366 last season with 15 home runs to earn a list of honors. He has elevated his game once again and is currently batting .432 with 12 home runs in only 21 games. His 72 total bases are second in DIII and his .973 slugging percentage puts him just outside the top ten. Over the Yellowjackets’ last 14 games, Jones earned a hit in 13 of them and had multiple hits in 10 of the contests.
Adrian Montenegro had a 3-10 record coming into this season and allowed 73 hits in 54 innings pitched in 2024. This season he had been on the most difficult pitchers in all of DIII to get on base against. In 46 ⅔ innings he had only allowed 35 hits and eight walks. Opposition is batting .208 against him and he has a 2.89 ERA. He has thrown a pair of shutouts and struck out 56 batters.