Updated college baseball rankings split on Clemson after weekend sweep

Clemson fell as much as six spots in the Monday morning polls.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - 2 days ago

Clemson's first series sweep defeat came after the first week with a unanimous ranking across the five nationally-recognized college baseball rankings, bringing back a variety of Top 25 assessments.

In the Monday morning polls, the Tigers fell from No. 2 as much as six spots to No. 8 (Perfect Game) to as little as one spot to No. 3 (D1Baseball). Later Monday, the NCBWA kept Clemson at No. 2.

"After 10 weeks of dominance, Clemson finally stumbled, getting swept in Raleigh by red-hot NC State. It marked the Tigers’ first series loss of the season and their first weekend sweep in nearly a year. A midweek win over No. 8 Georgia, along with strong peripheral metrics (No. 8 RPI and a 19-10 record against Quad I and II opponents), helped prevent a more dramatic fall. Clemson will look to steady itself this weekend against No. 19 Florida State, which is also coming off a tough weekend," said Baseball America, which moved Clemson back to No. 6.

It was another week of parity showing at the top with Texas continuing to shine in the No. 1 role (4-0 week) but seven of the Top 10-ranked teams from last week not have winning weeks. In that group, next Tiger opponent Florida State went 2-2 with a series loss at Louisville, seeing ranking ranges now from No. 5 (D1Baseball) to No. 19 with Baseball America.

In the ACC stat leaders (hitting), Dominic Listi is No. 2 in on-base percentage (.509) and Tigers appear in totals such as sac flies (Luke Gaffney, 1st, 8; Jarren Purify, 9th, 5), walks (Listi, 2nd, 48; Cam Cannarella, 7th, 40), strikeouts (Josh Paino, 2nd, 58; Jacob Jarrell, 10th, 45), sac bunts (Andrew Ciufo, 2nd, 9), hit by pitch (Listi, 3rd, 20; Purify, 9th, 12), stolen bases (Purify, 4th, 22), triples (Purify fifth, 3), doubles (Cannarella 10th, 14).

On the pitching side, Lucas Mahlstedt continues to pace the league in saves (15), Aidan Knaak is tied for second in strikeouts (76; one back of first) and eighth in wins (6), and B.J. Bailey is ninth in ERA (3.22).

In team stats, Clemson is 12th in slugging percentage (.443) and batting average (.272) and seventh in runs (327) hitting, while fifth in team ERA (4.65) and third in strikeouts (432) and fourth in walks (163).

Clemson in Top 25 (4/28)

NCBWA: 2 (prev. 2)
D1Baseball: 3 (prev. 2)
USA TODAY Coaches: 4 (prev. 2)
Baseball America: 6 (prev. 2)
Perfect Game: 8 (prev. 2)