Black College Nines reviews the performance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) participating in “small school” division baseball programs for the 2025 season up to mid-March.
In this analysis, Black College Nines highlights teams that are experiencing early season struggles within their conferences, examines the starting pitching rotations, and identifies notable surprises and athletes who are exceeding expectations in the first half of the season. This overview includes mid-season records for games played as of March 17, 2025.
Arkansas Baptist College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 0-7
Arkansas Baptist has struggled in all aspects of the game, lacking presence on the mound and at the plate, which has contributed to their losses. The program is in urgent need of changes. In seven losses, they have scored only 22 runs, while their opponents have scored 132.
Albany State University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 13-12
Albany State has recently been struggling both offensively and defensively. A challenging non-conference schedule against top NCAA Division II programs will aid in winning the conference.
Benedict College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 8-8
There has been a significant improvement in pitching over the last two years, which has had an immediate impact. Of course, base stealing remains a big part of Benedict’s offense.
Bluefield State College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-19
Tough non-conference schedule in NCAA Division II. The new head coach was brought in late during fall practice. There are more road games than home games. The team is projected to miss the Black College World Series.
Claflin University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 5-17
Lacking offensive power, solid defense, and effective pitching. Essentially, the team is short on power at the plate and on reliable pitching. However, there is still an opportunity to turn the season around.
Clark Atlanta University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 9-12
Pitching has kept the Panthers in ball games. Both pitching staff and position players are starting to produce.
Dillard University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 11-11
Dillard has not yet played their best baseball. The pitching staff needs to improve, and getting players into scoring positions has been a significant challenge. While the entire team is putting in great effort, they are struggling with errors. April is a crucial month for them; if they don’t start winning games soon, it could be detrimental to their season.
Edward Waters University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 15-11
Significant expectations are set for 2025 for a club that has retained key players on its roster. However, the team has struggled with multiple fielding errors and has left several runners stranded in scoring position. The Tigers are just one hot streak away from contending for the SIAC Conference Championship.
Florida Memorial University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 10-13
Plays very well in some games and not so well in others. Under head coach Wil Ramos, the defense needs to play error-free, which plagues the Lions. When Florida Memorial plays well, they can play some good baseball, but inconsistency on the defensive side and base running has led to losses.
Harris-Stowe State University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 4-7
If the coaching staff can get their squad to cut down on fielding errors, they will win some ball games.
Huston-Tillotson University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 10-18
The Rams can play with the top Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) members if they can produce consistency offensively when they start swinging the bats putting pressure on the defense. HTU has a competitive schedule to build upon its team strength. Needs mound presence to step up. Good win streak away from jumping into the conference race.
Jarvis Christian University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-10
Another rebuilding year for the Bulldogs baseball program. Costly errors and walks have allowed runs to score. Young team across the board.
Kentucky State University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-20
Not winning the pitching game has contributed to tough losses with no veteran presence on the mound.
Lane College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 7-13
The new head coach aims to make this a winning year. Getting players on base and establishing mound presence has shown dividends early this season. Costly errors have allowed opponents to score runs.
LeMoyne-Owen College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 11-12
HBCU Baseball and SIAC’s biggest surprised team this year. Hired a veteran head coach this past summer. Did a good job of Recruiting.
Lincoln University (PA)
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-9
The Lincoln University Lions’ consistency is an issue. Pitching has let this ball club down, and the starters have been a non-factor. Two of the Lion’s four wins came against NCAA Division I Delaware State and Mansfield University.
Lincoln University (MO)
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-18
Lincoln revived baseball in 2023 playing opponents in the 2025 season after a nine-year hiatus following the 2016 season.
Miles College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 15-8-1
The Golden Bears have demonstrated consistent pitching and have several strong arms in the bullpen. Their hitters are effectively bringing runners home. Miles has scheduled tough non-conference games. The starting players have positioned themselves to be a significant factor in the SIAC conference.
Morehouse College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 10-9
Coming into the season no one knew what to expect. Now Morehouse is hitting, pushing runners across the plate, and pitching has led to victories.
Morris College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 0-20
Typical seasons include a losing record. The head coach has instilled playing more games. They customarily play 15 games.
Oakwood University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 0-18
Oakwood has struggled in all aspects of the game, lacking both mound and plate presence, which has contributed to their ongoing losses. The program urgently needs changes, as the team has lost 18 consecutive games.
Paine College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 7-3
The Lions are off to a good start this season with DII-type players competing in the NAIA. Both starters and relievers pick each other up limiting the opposing runners from scoring.
Philander Smith University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-15
The jest of it all. Pitching has given up a ton of runs. Lack of solid pitching talent, shortage of steady at-bats, and defense have been shortcomings in 2025.
Rust College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 9-12
As the 2025 season began, expectations were high for the Bearcats following their participation in two Black College World Series. Both hitting and pitching performances have been solid so far. The pitching rotation, including starters and middle relievers, has shown strength in their nine victories. However, in the twelve losses, Rust has struggled with consistently converting scoring opportunities, often leaving runners stranded in scoring position.
Savannah State University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 13-6
The Tigers are off to a great start this season. Fifteen wins is a positive sign, and the pitching has been strong. This will be crucial when facing conference opponents in close ball games.
Stillman College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 10-12
The Tigers face a challenging HBCUAC conference schedule against top teams. They have played well at times this season, but their performance has been inconsistent both on the mound and at the plate. The pitching must improve for a strong finish to the season.
Southern University at New Orleans (LA)
2025 Mid-Season Record: 12-9
After starting the season with an 0-7 record, the Knights have transformed into one of the dominant teams in the HBCUAC and look like strong title contenders. Their success has been driven by impressive pitching. Following their first victory against Stillman on February 18, the team has shown significant improvement, going 12-3 since that game, which includes a seven-game winning streak from March 1 to March 15.
Talladega College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 20-8
The Tornados are facing a tough non-conference schedule, the most challenging among all HBCUs in the NAIA. They have already defeated several top teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll and still have a demanding schedule ahead against teams also ranked in the NAIA Top 25 and the Black College Nines Top 10 small school poll. Currently, they are receiving votes in the NAIA standings. As the season progresses, Talladega aims to contend for a repeat as conference champions while continuing their pursuit of the Black College World Series and the NAIA National Tournament.
Texas College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 1-20
Former head coach Anthony Macon impacted the program by stabilizing pitching leading the team to the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) tournament during the 2019 season. He departed to the NCAA Division I SWAC as the pitching coach at Prairie View A&M. The program has been reeling since.
Tougaloo College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 7-18
The entire team is struggling at the plate, and the pitching rotation is at times failing to meet expectations. Scouting reports indicate that they are putting in a competitive effort but consistently falling short. Costly errors have led to runs scoring against them. Can they overcome this adversity and turn the season around?
Tuskegee University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 9-15
The Golden Tigers entered the start of the season winning their first two ball games. Since then, they are 7-15.
Virginia State University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 2-10
The team’s struggles in hitting, fielding, and pitching have resulted in a disappointing early season record of 5-10. Expect head coach Merrill Morgan to address these issues and begin to meet the expectations set in the fall.
Voorhees College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 10-9
The team can score runs with men on base. Voorhees can play well with any opponent when they maintain consistency, but they are struggling through innings both offensively and defensively.
West Virginia State University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 8-9
West Virginia State is facing a challenging non-conference and conference schedule. The competition within the conference is expected to be strong, but the team does have some solid pitchers in the one and two spots of the rotation, along with a strong bullpen. The Yellowjackets are just beginning to hit their stride. Their pitching has contributed to several close wins, often by just one or two runs. West Virginia State seems poised to make a run for a spot in the NCAA Division II Regionals.
Wilberforce University
2025 Mid-Season Record: 4-16
Despite its record, the program has been in a building mode since baseball returned to Wilberforce, Ohio. The lack of solid pitching talent, inconsistent at-bats, and defensive issues have been deficiencies in 2025.
Wiley College
2025 Mid-Season Record: 17-11
The Wildcats face a challenging schedule in the HBCUAC conference against some of the top teams. The Tigers have had moments of strong play this season; in their victories, they demonstrate consistency both in pitching and batting. However, they must improve their pitching to finish the season on a positive note. They should expect to compete for the conference championship.
Xavier University of Louisiana
2025 Mid-Season Record: 4-17
Lacking hitting, defense, and pitching, the team struggles with power.