HBCU Baseball Predictions: Who Will Finish at the Top in the SIAC?

As the 2022 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) baseball season approaches, who will finish at the top of the conference?

With the two-division alignment, the 2022 baseball season is set to begin in a week and the 10 teams (Edward Waters University looming) are all vying to make it to the Black College World Series in Montgomery, Alabama May 10-15.

The SIAC office issued a scheduling mandate that all teams will play a 30-game conference schedule in 2022 which makes these predictions interesting to say the least.

Black College Nines predicts the order of finish and who looks to be among the best NCAA Division II HBCU baseball programs in the nation this season.

The competition within the SIAC will be fierce. A conference championship and an invite to Montgomery will be on the line. Who will win or steal the conference? Could a non HBCU (Spring Hill College) take the conference like it did in 2019? Here is my early season prediction of who will finish at the top of the SIAC.

SIAC East:

1. Savannah State: The Tigers finished the 2021 season 14-7 overall and are looking at another potential big season run. Savannah State returns its entire 2021 roster for the 2022 season. Head Coach Carlton Hardy has his team in good shape. The players want a return trip back to Montgomery, Alabama, site of 2022 Black College World Series. This team is hungry to win the SIAC outright.

2. Albany State: In 2021, the Golden Rams finished the year 12-7 cut short with leftovers from COVID-19 uncertainty. The Tigers are returning some talented position players, but they will struggle early with pitching. Albany State is one of the SIAC teams that fare well against midweek tough opponents. Head Coach Scot Hemmings will right this ship so expect the team to do much better in the 2022 season.

3. Benedict College: Although “those base stealing bandits” continue to manufacture runs going station to station in a heartbeat setting NCAA DII national stolen base records that, in my opinion, might never be broken. Offensively, they are a force at the plate. Pitching hasn’t been a major factor in the last three years. Head Coach Selwyn Young can turn that all around in 2022. But will it be enough to leapfrog Divisional foes Savannah State and Albany State? Right now, Benedict looks to be competitive. They need their administration and athletic department to support the program. They have a new athletic director, and the hope is that new AD won’t have a tight grip on the baseball program like the last one did.

4. Morehouse: Baseball opted out of the 2021 season. The season was cut short following the cancelation of the Fall and Spring 2020-21 season due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 break out caused the Maroon Tigers baseball season to end earlier than expected, ending their season with a 2-8 overall record. Morehouse will play their first game since March 2020 against Shorter University February 8, in Rome, Georgia then plays in the annual Peachtree Classic in Atlanta. The 2022 season will be a good test for head coach Antonio Grissom. The program has been quite about its roster which could be a surprise team to watch this season. My pick to shock and finish in the middle of the pack in the East.

5. Clark Atlanta: The Panthers are excited to get back on the field full-time. The last two years they have only played 26 games. At that time, they started 6 freshmen, and this will be those guys first time playing a full season. They will compete for a spot in the SIAC tournament. This young group is excited to be get back on the field.  Head coach Kentaus Carter understand it will not be an easy road as the SIAC conference has improved and there is no easy weekend. Pitch, play defense, and score runs, we might see a Panther explosion this season.

SIAC West:

1. Tuskegee University: This is my pick to click in the West. The team was talented in 2021 but struggled to play games because of administrative missteps and the conference governing body safety protocols placed on all spring sports. However, they did manage to pick up the slack at the end of the season and return all but two members of the 2021 team. Head coach Reginald Hollins had the best recruiting class in the SIAC. He has brought in a number of talented student-athletes. Fall ball gave Hollins a starting point to figuring out the perfect combination of players to win with. Hollins will make small but important strides this season. Keep an eye on Tuskegee.

2. Spring Hill: The Badgers were the last SIAC conference champions (in 2019) before the pandemic hit. Spring Hill is arguably one of the top teams in the SIAC. They are not an HBCU, but they have talent. The bullpen is deep and some of the team’s best hitters are back. Head coach Frank Sims’ program continually recruits well, partially due to scholarship advantage and can fill in any position. But they can get tripped up in the SIAC.

3. Kentucky State: The Thorobreds might be one of the teams to steal the SIAC in 2022. They only lost three players at the end of 2021, so they are bringing back plenty of experience. They have a deep pitching rotation and in the pen. Can Kentucky State put a hot streak together to last the entire season? Head Coach Rob Henry typically does a good job of recruiting. My dark horse pick.

4. Miles: Every season, the Golden Bears tend to be ranked in the preseason and fall short of making it through the conference tournament. If they play good defensively this season, they might turn that around. Head coach Ty Roberts has a group of power hitters. The question, can pitching perform well enough on the mound this season to close out games?

5. Lane: Did the Lane Dragons have a breakthrough season in 2021 after being named HBCU baseball national champions in 2020? Not really. Although they did raise their level of play at the start of last season, they fell out of contention to close the 2021 season. Head coach Patrick Barbour has a very young squad with little experience working together and the team’s pitching outlook is unclear. The question I raise is how will Barbour turn a rebuilding year into a little bit of success for 2022? We will see.

6. LeMoyne-Owen: In 2022, head coach Patrick Newman will attempt to replace most of the starting lineup as it plays for the first time since the 2020 campaign was cut short by the pandemic.