College Baseball Polls |
TUCSON, Ariz. - Florida St. University (14-1) has been
ranked No. 1 for the second straight time in "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper's NCAA Division I baseball poll. The Seminoles, which have won 11 straight, are off to their best start since 1986 when Florida St. began the season with a 14-1 record. For the first time in "Collegiate Baseball" poll history, which dates back to 1957, the top five teams in the nation are only separated by five points. The reason is that all five teams are on lengthy winning streaks. Cumulatively, the top five teams have won 49 straight games led by Arizona St. (15 in a row), Florida St. (11 straight), Georgia Tech. (9 consecutive), Rice (8 straight), and Cal. St. Fullerton (6 in a row). Overall, the top five teams in the nation have posted a cumulative 72-4 record with none of the schools having more than one loss this season. Poll Notes: Alabama-Birmingham, which had a dismal 16-40 record last year, has raced to a 13-0 record this season. UAB is off to the best start in school history as well as Conference USA history. Baylor is another red-hot team with nine consecutive wins. North Carolina-Greensboro has also been impressive with a 10-0 record. The "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's
"LOUISVILLE SLUGGER'S" NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
* P Dan Kagey, Washington and Lee: Kagey pitched the eighth no-hitter in Washington and Lee history (which dates back to
1907) as he struck out 13 in the 7-inning contest against
Emory & Henry during a 26-1 win. Kagey only allowed one walk
in the game. It was the second no-hitter of his career.
* P Lucas Trotter, Alabama-Birmingham: Trotter struck out a career-high 16 batters in six innings of work against Eastern Illinois during a 10-4 win. Trotter allowed one run on one hit and one walk in the contest.
* 2B Rickie Weeks, Southern: Weeks had a superb week as he
went 9-for-14 at the plate with 3 home runs, 2 doubles, 11
RBIs and scored 8 runs. He also went 2-for-2 in stolen bases
as he raised his batting average 48 points over the past weekend. He now is hitting a robust .500 through 10 games.
* P Kevin Thompson, Duke: Thompson came within one strike of
a perfect game and finished with a one-hit shutout in
leading Duke to a 10-0 win against Buffalo. Thompson
recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in the seven-inning
game, the most by a Blue Devil pitcher since Stephen Cowie struck out 13 in nine innings during the 1999 season. Thompson allowed no walks in the game.
Baseball America's Top 25
DURHAM, N.C.--Georgia Tech remained undefeated and atop Baseball America's Top 25 college baseball rankings for the fourth straight week.
The Yellow Jackets are followed immediately in the rankings by Rice, Florida State, Arizona State and Cal State Fullerton. The first five teams in the rankings have clearly separated themselves from the rest of the nation and have a combined record of 72-4. The Titans may have been the most impressive over the weekend, winning the Kia Bash by defeating defending national champion Texas, No. 23 Tulane and UCLA.
The Green Wave and Longhorns dropped after going a combined 1-5 at the Bash. The weekend's other national tournament also influenced the rankings, as Nebraska jumped four spots after sweeping the Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Huskers recorded impressive wins against No. 11 Wake Forest and No. 17 Notre Dame.
Only one team joined the rankings this week, with No. 25 UNC Greensboro appearing in the rankings for the first time ever on the strength of the best start in school history.
Baseball America's staff determines the Top 25 rankings, and records are through games of March 2.
Team Overall Last Week Previous 1. Georgia Tech 9-0 3-0 1 2. Rice 11-1 3-0 2 3. Florida State 14-1 3-0 3 4. Arizona State 24-1 3-0 4 5. Cal State Fullerton 14-1 3-0 5 6. Baylor 12-3 4-0 8 7. Stanford 11-7 2-1 9 8. Long Beach State 10-5 2-1 11 9. Texas 13-5 1-2 6 10. South Carolina 9-2 1-1 10 11. Wake Forest 5-3 1-2 7 12. Richmond 3-0 1-0 12 13. Auburn 12-3 4-0 15 14. Nebraska 7-2 3-0 18 15. Mississippi State 5-1 3-0 17 16. Louisiana State 7-6 1-2 13 17. Notre Dame 3-4 1-2 14 18. Southern California 7-8 2-2 16 19. Clemson 3-3 2-1 19 20. Miami 9-3 2-1 22 21. Kansas 13-4 2-1 23 22. North Carolina 5-2 1-2 20 23. Tulane 9-4 1-3 21 24. Wichita State 9-1 0-0 25 25. UNC Greensboro 10-0 2-0 NR
The Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 College Coaches Poll
Selected by 41 Division I head baseball coaches representing the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Records are complete through games ending March 2.
1. FLORIDA STATE (14-1) Last poll: 1 Poll points: 974 (19 No. 1 votes).
2. CAL STATE FULLERTON (14-1) Last poll: 4 Poll points: 955 (11).
3. ARIZONA STATE (24-1) Last poll: 2 Poll points: 945 (8).
4. GEORGIA TECH (9-0) Last poll: 3 Poll points: 927 (3).
5. RICE (11-1) Last poll: 5 Poll points: 891.
6. BAYLOR (12-3) Last poll: 9 Poll points: 762
7. SOUTH CAROLINA (9-2) Last poll: 7 Poll points: 728.
8. STANFORD (11-7) Last poll: 8 Poll points: 709.
9. TEXAS (13-5) Last poll: 6 Poll points: 668.
10. LONG BEACH STATE (10-5) Last poll: 11 Poll points: 618.
11. AUBURN (12-3) Last poll: 12 Poll points: 526.
12. NEBRASKA (7-2) Last poll: 16 Poll points: 520.
13. MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-1) Last poll: 14 Poll points: 465.
14. WAKE FOREST (5-3) Last poll: 10 Poll points: 455.
15. FLORIDA (11-1) Last poll: 19 Poll points: 448.
16. RICHMOND (3-0) Last poll: 15 Poll points: 400.
17. MIAMI (9-3) Last poll: 13 Poll points: 346.
18. CLEMSON (3-3) Last poll: 18 Poll points: 296.
19. WICHITA STATE (9-1) Last poll: 23 Poll points: 253.
20. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (7-8) Last poll: 17 Poll points: 184.
21. TEXAS TECH (13-5) Last poll: 22 Poll points: 177.
22. TENNESSEE (9-1) Last poll: NR Poll points: 125.
23. NOTRE DAME (3-4) Last poll: 20 Poll points: 111.
24.ALABAMA (8-3) Last poll: NR Poll points: 90.
25. KANSAS (13-4) Last poll: NR Poll points: 88.
Dropped out: No. 21 LSU (7-6, 1-2 last week), No. 24 Tulane (9-4, 2-3 last week), No. 25 North Carolina (5-2, 1-2 last week).
Others receiving votes: LSU (78), California (66), Arizona (66), Arkansas (60), Alabama-Birmingham (45), Texas A&M (45), Houston (45), Florida International (40), Tulane (38), North Carolina (32), North Carolina-Greensboro (29), Pepperdine (16), Oklahoma (11), Coastal Carolina (10), Florida Atlantic (10), Southern Mississippi (9), Southwest Missouri State (9), Western Kentucky (9), Louisville (8), Oklahoma State (8), Stetson (7), South Alabama (6), Texas Christian (6), Nevada-Las Vegas (5), UCLA (4), North Carolina-Wilmington (2).
Tigers To Play Host To Winthrop Tuesday at 4:00 PM
Clemson to play first of six games in six days at home.
Clemson, SC -
Clemson will play the first of six games in six days on Tuesday against Winthrop beginning at 4:00 PM. Clemson will play host to College of Charleston (7-5) Wednesday at 4:00 PM, then play host to Chukyo University of Japan in an exhibition matchup Thursday at 4:00 PM. The Tuesday and Wednesday games will be broadcast live on the radio by WCCP (104.9 FM) out of Clemson and can be heard live via the internet at www.clemsontigers.com. Thursday's game will be broadcast live on the university station, WSBF, 88.1 FM. Live stats will also be available on Clemson's website for all three games.
Clemson is coming off a 2-1 week, in which it split games against #6 South Carolina and defeated Charleston Southern. Winthrop (8-2), will play host to La Salle this evening before traveling to Tigertown Tuesday. College of Charleston is coached by former Tiger player and assistant coach, and Major Leaguer John Pawlowski. Chukyo arrived in the United States on Friday, and was in attendance to see Clemson's 8-0 win over South Carolina Saturday. Chukyo will play games at Davidson, Furman, and Wofford before playing at Clemson Thursday.
Clemson holds a 14-2 lead over Winthrop, dating back to 1981. The two teams met last season, with Clemson coming away with a 6-4 win on a Jeff Baker walk-off homer, his third of the game, in Tigertown. Winthrop defeated the Tigers 8-4 in 2001 in a game at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers hold a 9-0 lead all-time against College of Charleston dating back to 1899. Clemson defeated the Cougars twice last season, 14-6 at Charleston and 12-1 at Clemson. Jack Leggett is 3-1 against Winthrop and 3-0 versus College of Charleston as the Tiger skipper.
Winthrop will start senior lefty Jeremy Plexico (2-0, 2.45 ERA), a one-time South Carolina baseball squad member. He has allowed just eight hits and three walks while striking out 19 in 14.2 innings pitched. Clemson will counter with junior righthander Steven Jackson (0-1, 10.12 ERA). Jackson suffered the loss in his only outing this year at #16 Auburn. Starters for Wednesday's game have yet to be announced.
The Eagles are hitting .335 as a team (entering this evening's game versus La Salle) and are led by Daniel Carte, who has three homers and 18 RBIs to go along with a .514 batting average in 10 starts. Mark Schmidt has eight hits in 13 at bats (.615 batting average) as well. The Eagles, who will be playing their first game away from home Tuesday, have stolen 22 bases in 25 attempts, led by Kyle Roberson's perfect 9-9 mark. The pitching staff has a 2.93 team ERA and is allowing just a .198 batting average.
The Cougars are hitting .315 as a team and are led by Brett Anderson, who is hitting .435 with two homers and 10 RBIs. The Cougars, who are 1-3 in away games, have stolen 31 bases in 36 attempts in their 12 games, led by Brett Gardner's seven. The pitching staff has a 5.47 ERA and is allowing a .294 batting average on the season.
Clemson is led at the plate by junior shortstop Russell Triplett, who is hitting .333 in six starts. Michael Johnson has three of the team's five homers and is hitting .316. The Tigers are hitting .258 on the season, but have faced five top-20 teams along with facing Charleston Southern's Robert Swindle, who allowed just two runs in over seven innings at #1 Florida State this past weekend. Clemson has a 4.68 team ERA has a 3.3 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season.
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