How to watch, preview and prediction for the DII baseball championship

Tampa and Angelo State are all that remain in the 2024 DII baseball season. Perhaps it is not surprising as Angelo State entered the season at No. 1 in the preseason Power 10, while Tampa was No. 2. Here’s what you need to know about the series.

DII baseball central: Complete schedule and scores from every round | Bracket

The DII baseball championship series: How to watch

Tampa and Angelo State are set to play for the DII baseball national championship on Saturday, June 8, at 1:30 p.m. ET from USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Unlike softball, which is a three-game championship series, DII baseball is double elimination. Should Tampa win the first game on Saturday, the Spartans are your national champions since Angelo State had one loss coming into the game (side note: DII baseball changes next season to a best-of-three finals). Should there be a Game 2, it will begin shortly after Game 1 ends. You can stream all the games right here on krikya18.com.

Tampa vs. Angelo State: By the Numbers

Both of these teams are in familiar territory. The Spartans are playing for their ninth national championship, which would tie them for the most DII baseball titles all-time with SSC rival Florida Southern. It would be Joe Urso's sixth national championship as head coach — all coming since 2000 — with Tampa the winningest team of the century. Let's not forget, Urso won a national championship in the 1990s and is one of the best infielders of that decade. He was even the coach of krikya18.com's DII baseball All-Century Team.

EJ Cumbo is looking to etch his name onto that All-Century Team. A strong candidate for national player of the year, Cumbo became DII's all-time hits leader this season and has been scorching hot in the tournament, going 24 for 39 (a .615 batting average) with 18 RBI and eight home runs. A national championship trophy would secure his position as one of the greats of the century, if he isn't already. The pitching — as it has been since former Tampa star and MLB pitcher Sam Militello became pitching coach — has one of the best staffs in DII. They were second in ERA and WHIP, and Skylar Gonzalez and Alex Canney were No. 1 and 2 in the division in wins, with 16 and 13, respectively. There isn't a more balanced team in DII.

Angelo State certainly dealt with some adversity in its attempt to repeat as national champion, a feat that no school has accomplished since, you guessed it, Tampa went back-to-back in 2006-07. There were some key injuries and a bumpy February that looked like the Rams may fall out of contention in a stacked South Central Region. However, just as the sky is blue and the grass is green, the Rams found their way to Cary — a fourth year in a row for them —and reached at least the semifinals for the third time in the past four trips. 

Now the Rams are looking to become the first No. 8 seed to win the national championship since the current seeding format began in 2018. They have had an impressive run, downing nationally ranked West Texas A&M, Colorado Mesa, Lubbock Christian, Central Missouri and Point Loma just to get here. Christian Garnette, Blake Wilhoite (who has come on strong as an injury replacement) and Ryder McDaniel have been key to the Rams' postseason success, tearing it up from the 7-8-9 holes of the lineup, making getting through an already tricky lineup that much harder for opposing pitchers. The seemingly unstoppable trio each had a hit in the semifinals clincher, combining to score three runs and drive in three more. 

DII baseball championship prediction

We have two well coached teams. We have two teams with a history of winning. Whatever happens, we are going to have a great end to the DII baseball season. 

I believe the Rams are in the position to repeat because head coach Kevin Brooks went to his closer in the third inning of the first game in Cary — and Caleb Heuertz responded with a season-high 7.1 innings of shutout ball, striking out 10 and winning the game against No. 1 Central Missouri. That's Brooks and the Rams' MO — they have the right pieces and depth that if there is an itch, you scratch it, even if it is in an unconventional way.

Tampa came into the season ranked No. 2 in the preseason Power 10 rankings and never fell below that spot, rising to No. 1 for the bulk of the season. The Spartans opened the season in Minute Maid Park at the Houston Winter Invitational against two Power 10 teams (Millersville and Central Missouri) and Arkansas Tech — all three of which eventually made the tournament — and left 3-0 by outscoring top-25 competition 46-10 one weekend before scoring 44 runs in a three-game series against then-No. 12 Newberry. I say all that to say this: Tampa looked like the national champions before a bat was swung this season, and they never once wavered from that.

I'll never rule out the Rams — they may have drawn the No. 8 seed, but the defending champs are not your regular No. 8 seed by any stretch of the imagination — but I just don't know that they have the pitching left to compete with this Tampa lineup. Dax Dathe, arguably the Rams' ace, had a short outing in the loss to IUP on Thursday, so he may be available, which could make this more interesting. That said, Tampa has been an unstoppable force all season and hasn't simply won eight of its past nine games, but utterly dominated them. It just feels like it's the Spartans' year.

Prediction: Tampa in one.