The Kalamazoo College baseball team climbed into the D3Baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 Poll at #24 with 94 points. The Hornets were receiving votes in the preseason poll and through the first two polls of the season, but a 9-0 start propelled them into a national poll for the first time in program history.
Shenandoah is on top of the poll for the second consecutive week with 614 points and 18 first-place votes after starting seventh in the preseason poll and being fourth after the first poll of 2024. Endicott earned five first-place votes and is in second with 590 points. Baldwin Wallace (569 points, Salisbury (518 points), and East Texas Baptist (508 points) round out the top five. The rest of the rankings can be found HERE.
The Hornets have a 9-0 record through the first nine games, which is the best start in program history. Kalamazoo earned three-game sweeps over Principia and Earlham, and then neutral sites wins over Grinnell, Elmhurst, and Wartburg. The offense is humming through the first nine games with a batting average of .394, an on-base percentage of .520, and a slugging percentage of .555. Averaging 14.8 runs per game, the Hornets have 125 hits, 27 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 119 RBI, 30 stolen bases, 65 walks, and have been hit by a pitch 29 times. The pitching staff currently has a 3.33 earned-run average with 84 strikeouts and three shutouts, while limiting opponents to a .206 batting average and 39 walks.
Kalamazoo is the lone MIAA team that is ranked or receiving votes in the poll. There are six total Mideast Region (Region VII) teams in the poll, with Baldwin Wallace (third), Denison (sixth), Kalamazoo (24th), Case Western (RV), Marietta (RV), and Otterbein (RV). Coming up, the Hornets have Johns Hopkins (ninth) and Augustana (RV) on the schedule for their Florida trip.
The Hornets will next play a road doubleheader at Defiance on Saturday (Mar. 16), beginning at noon.