Three HBCU Baseball Programs Receive Votes In NCBWA NCAA Division I Poll

Three HBCU Baseball programs received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division I Poll for the 2020 season. Alabama State, Grambling and Norfolk State are among 73 of the nation’s top teams either ranked or receiving votes in the weekly poll.

Alabama State is coming off a three-game sweep in the Andre Dawson Classic in which they defeated three Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) foes… Prairie View A&M (a run rule 12-0 win in seven innings), a thrilling 6-5 win over UAPB, and an extra-inning 5-2 win against Southern. The Hornets scored 23 runs in the three games and opened the season with 11 consecutive scoreless innings on the mound. ASU has started the season off 3-0.

Grambling State also opened its season in the 2020 Andre Dawson Classic with three wins including a 10-0 win over UAPB, a 5-1 victory over host school University of New Orleans, then a 7-5 win against Southern in game three. GSU pitching dominated in the Andre Dawson Classic.

Tiger pitching (3-0) was nearly flawless, pounding the strike zone with first pitch strikes. Two of Grambling’s starters, Mark Luna (1-0) and Bryan Delgado (1-0) recorded double digit strikeouts in the games each threw.

Norfolk State opened the season taking two of the three games over Wagner to win its series. The Spartans’ 5-3 opening day win was sparked by the bottom of its order which offensively carried them to the win. In the series clinching finale, the Spartans (2-1) ignited a five-run sixth-inning rally that carried Norfolk State to a 7-3 win and series victory. NSU responded each time they had to score runs.

What held up for Norfolk State was pitching. Both the starters and NSU’s bullpen shut the door in the two victories.

The 2020 poll voters comes from among 35 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. After a preseason Top 35 listing, the remainder of the polls will feature a national Top 30 beginning with the Feb. 17 NCBWA DI survey.

The current survey has representation by eight different conferences among the 300 baseball-playing schools in the 2020 NCAA Division I ranks.

The NCBWA 2020 Poll list:

2020 NCBWA DIVISION I POLL (FEB. 17) Rk. School Conference Record Pvs. 1. Texas Tech Big 12 4-0 3 2. Miami ACC 3-0 5 3. Georgia SEC 3-0 4 4. Vanderbilt SEC 1-2 1 5. Florida SEC 3-0 8 6. Arkansas SEC 3-0 6 7. Mississippi State SEC 3-0 9 8. Louisville ACC 1-2 2 9. Michigan Big Ten 3-1 12 10. Auburn SEC 4-0 10 11. UCLA Pac-12 3-0 11 12. NC State ACC 3-0 17 13. LSU SEC 2-1 13 14. Arizona State Pac-12 2-2 7 15. Florida State ACC 2-1 14 16. East Carolina American Athletic 3-0 20 17. North Carolina ACC 2-0 19 18. Duke ACC 2-1 15 19. Texas A&M SEC 3-0 21 20. Ole Miss SEC 2-1 25 21. Wake Forest ACC 3-1 23 22. Georgia Tech ACC 2-1 22 23. Arizona Pac-12 3-0 26 24. Oklahoma Big 12 2-1 24 25. TCU Big 12 3-0 28 26. Stanford Pac-12 1-2 16 27. Dallas Baptist Missouri Valley 3-0 27 28. Cal State Fullerton Big West 2-1 RV 29. Oklahoma State Big 12 1-2 18 30. Texas Big 12 3-0 30 Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Abilene Christian (4-0), Alabama (3-0), Alabama State (3-0), Boston College (3-1), Butler (3-0), Cal Poly (2-1), Cal State Northridge (3-0), Clemson (3-0), Coastal Carolina (1-1), Creighton (2-1), East Tennessee State (3-0), Florida Atlantic (3-0), Fresno State (2-1), Georgia Southern (3-0), Georgia State (3-0), Grambling (3-0), Grand Canyon (2-1), Hawaii (2-1), Iowa (2-1), Kennesaw State (3-0), Louisiana Tech (3-0), Maryland (3-0), Minnesota (1-2), New Mexico State (4-0), Norfolk State (2-1), Ohio State (2-1), Old Dominion (3-0), Oregon State (2-1), Penn State (3-1), Pepperdine (3-0), Pittsburgh (3-1), Sam Houston State (2-1), San Diego State (2-1), South Carolina (3-0), Southern Miss (3-0), Stetson (3-0), Tennessee (3-0), Texas-Arlington (3-0), UC Irvine (1-2), UC Santa Barbara (2-1), UNCW (3-1), Virginia (1-2), West Virginia (2-1). Dropped out: Oregon State (29). By conference: SEC 9, ACC 8, Big 12 5, Pac-12 4, American Athletic 1, Big Ten 1, Big West 1, Missouri Valley 1.