Tigers Move Up in Collegiate Baseball Poll |
LOUISIANA STATE NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER POLL
TUCSON, Ariz. - Louisiana St. University (7-0) has been ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division I baseball poll of the season by "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper. The Tigers, which have been ranked No. 1 for the third straight poll, swept a 3-game series at home against Central Florida over the past weekend and have won seven straight to kick off the 2009 season. LSU completed their sixth straight regular season series sweep dating back to last season and have now won 23 straight regular-season games over the past two seasons. POLL NOTES: No. 2 Georgia (8-0) is off to its best start since the 2000 season and swept a 3-game series at Arizona over the past weekend. The best start in Bulldog history belongs to the 1911 team which won its first nine games. Another team that made a jump in the poll is Texas (9-0) which moved from eighth to fourth this week. Several other red-hot teams include Miami, Fla. which swept a 3-game series at Florida. Cal. St. Fullerton swept a 3-game series against Stanford. Rice knocked off four quality teams over the past week, including Houston, UCLA, Texas A&M and Baylor. Cal Poly SLO enters the poll for the first time this year at No. 17 with a 6-1 record. The Mustangs, which swept a 3-game series over the last weekend against Sacramento St., have also knocked off Rice two of three games and defending national champion Fresno St. Ohio St. has been impressive with a 7-0 record. Five teams dropped out of the poll this week in Stanford (0-4 last week), Fresno St. (1-3), UCLA (0-5), Southern California (1-3), and San Diego St. (2-3). New to the poll this week is South Carolina (4-0), Cal Poly SLO (6-1), Lamar (9-1), East Carolina (5-1) and Mississippi St. (8-1). 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
Basebnall America
DURHAM, N.C.-- There's a change atop the Baseball America Top 25 rankings for the first time this season as Louisiana State bludgeoned its way to a sweep of Central Florida and to the No. 1 ranking.
While LSU has dominated with offense, Texas has done it with pitching. The Longhorns gave up just seven runs over four games last week to vault up to the No. 2 ranking. After the Longhorns, the rest of the top 10 remained mostly unchanged. Previous No. 1 Texas A&M lost two games on the week to slip to No. 4, while Rice won three games against top 10 opponents at the Houston College Classic and moved up one spot.
The biggest mover of the week was easily Miami. The Hurricanes ended a rare absence from the rankings by going on the road and sweeping then-No. 24 Florida, earning their season debut in the rankings at No. 15. Pepperdine was another big mover as the Waves moved up five spots after winning a series on the road against UC Davis. UCLA suffered the most precipitous fall, dropping from No. 9 all the way out of the rankings after going 0-5 for the week, including an 0-3 showing at the Houston College Classic.
Three other teams moved into the rankings this week. Oregon State returned after a one-week hiatus by going 3-1 at the DeMarini Classic in Tempe, Ariz., including a win against then-No. 15 Missouri. Coastal Carolina and Cal Poly made their season debuts in the rankings. Both of their weeks were highlighted by midweek victories, as Coastal Carolina knocked off No. 3 North Carolina while Cal Poly, which owns a series victory against Rice, defeated defending national champion Fresno State.
The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of March 1 and do not include ties.
Rk. Team W-L Last Week Prev. 1. Louisiana State 7-0 4-0 2 2. Texas 9-0 5-0 4 3. North Carolina 7-1 4-1 3 4. Texas A&M 7-2 3-2 1 5. UC Irvine 5-2 2-1 5 6. Baylor 6-2 4-1 6 7. Cal State Full 5-2 4-0 7 8. Arizona State 8-1 4-1 8 9. Rice 5-2 4-0 10 10. Georgia 8-0 5-0 12 11. San Diego 6-3 4-2 11 12. Pepperdine 5-2 3-1 17 13. Texas Christian 5-1 3-0 23 14. Mississippi 3-3 2-1 13 15. Miami 6-1 3-0 NR 16. Oklahoma 7-3 3-3 16 17. Kent State 5-0 2-0 18 18. Georgia Tech 6-1 3-1 20 19. Clemson 4-1 1-1 19 20. Coastal Carolina 6-1 3-0 NR 21. Arkansas 5-1 2-1 21 22. Florida State 6-1 2-1 22 23. Oklahoma State 6-1 2-1 25 24. Oregon State 4-2 3-1 NR 25. Cal Poly 6-1 4-0 NR Dropped Out: UCLA (9), Stanford (14), Missouri (15), Florida (24).
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