Tigers drop out of one baseball poll

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Mar 28 14:29:47 GMT-04:00 2011

DURHAM, N.C.—After spending much of the season ranked No. 2, Vanderbilt ascends to the top of the Baseball America Top 25 after its weekend series victory at Arkansas.

The path to the top spot was cleared by South Carolina's series win at then-No. 1 Florida, which had been atop the rankings since the preseason. The Gamecocks moved up to No. 3 after becoming the first team to beat the Gators in a series in Gainesville, Fla., since 2009.

A second top-five upset—Oklahoma State's series victory against then-No. 5 Texas—allowed Arizona State to climb into the top five for the first time this season.

Georgia Tech extended the nation's longest winning streak to 16 games with a midweek win at Georgia and a sweep at Miami. The Yellow Jackets and California were the biggest upward movers in this week's rankings, each moving up three spots into the top 15.

Four new teams entered the Top 25. Stetson led the charge of new teams, entering at No. 20 after a 4-1 week that included a win at No. 7 Florida State. Troy jumped to No. 21 after sweeping Arkansas-Little Rock to remain undefeated in weekend series. Southern Mississippi's weekend series victory at then-No. 20 Tulane vaulted the Golden Eagles into the rankings at No. 22. Alabama extended its winning streak to seven games with a 5-0 week, capped by a sweep of SEC foe Kentucky, and got the final spot in this week's rankings.

The Pac-10 continues to have six teams ranked in the Baseball America Top 25, the most of any conference.

The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of March 27 and do not include ties.

Rk.

Team

W-L

Last Week

Prev.

Vanderbilt

22-3

3-1

Virginia

24-2

5-0

South Carolina

18-5

4-1

Florida

21-4

3-2

Arizona State

18-6

3-2

Texas A&M

19-5

4-0

Florida State

18-6

2-2

Texas

17-7

2-2

Fresno State

18-2

4-0

10.

Oklahoma

18-6

2-1

11.

Stanford

10-6

4-1

12.

Cal State Fullerton

16-8

5-1

13.

California

16-5

4-0

14.

Georgia Tech

21-4

4-0

15.

Texas Christian

15-8

3-1

16.

North Carolina

23-3

5-0

17.

Louisiana State

17-7

1-3

18.

Arizona

17-7

2-2

19.

Baylor

16-8

3-1

20.

Stetson

20-5

4-1

21.

Troy

19-4

3-0

22.

Southern Mississippi

18-5

3-2

23.

Oregon State

18-6

3-2

24.

UCLA

11-8

3-2

25.

Alabama

18-7

5-0

Dropped Out: Clemson

(19), Tulane (20), Auburn(22), Rice (25)

VIRGINIA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Virginia has been ranked No. 1 for the

first time this season in "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper's NCAA Division I

baseball poll.

Florida, ranked No. 1 for the previous five weeks, fell to fourth after

losing two of three at home to South Carolina.

Virginia (24-2 overall, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won five straight

and 18 of its last 19 games. The pitching staff has a 2.00 ERA with a better

than 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio (289 strikeouts and 58 walks). The

Cavaliers' defense is fielding at a .986 clip and has committed only 14

errors over 26 games. On offense, Virginia is averaging 7.2 runs per game.

Poll Notes: Several other teams have been red-hot. Georgia Tech (21-4) has

won 16 straight games and leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 9-0

record. North Carolina has won 9 in a row, Fresno St. 7 straight, Alabama 7

consecutive, Texas A&M 6 straight and California 6 in a row.

In other key series over the past weekend, Vanderbilt beat Arkansas two of

three, Texas lost two of three at Oklahoma St., Arizona St. won two of three

against Arizona, Georgia Tech. swept a 3-game series against Miami (Fla.),

Mississippi St. swept a 3-game series against Auburn, Southern Miss. beat

Tulane two of three, and Wichita St. and Oregon split a 4-game series.

Three teams fell out of the top 30 in Auburn (0-4 last week), Miami, Fla.

(2-3) and Oregon (3-2). New to the poll this week is Alabama (18-7 overall,

5-1 Southeastern Conference), Central Florida (18-6 overall) and Mississippi

St. (18-6 overall, 4-game winning streak).

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

NCAA Div. I Poll

(As of March 28, 2011)


Rank School (Record)         Points Previous


1. Virginia (24-2)  		494  3


2. Vanderbilt (22-3)  		493  2


3. South Carolina (18-5) 	492  7


4. Florida (21-4)   		491  1


5. Texas A&M (19-5)  		488  6


6. Georgia Tech. (21-4)  	486  12


7. Arizona St. (18-6)  		483  5


8. Texas (17-7)   		480  4


9. Fresno St. (18-2)  		478  20


10. Cal. St. Fullerton (16-8) 	475  16

11. North Carolina (23-3) 	473  19


12. Florida St. (18-6)  	471  8


13. Oklahoma (19-6)  		470  10


14. Texas Christian (15-8) 	468  13


15. UCLA (11-8)   		465  14


16. Clemson (13-9)  		462  15


17. Arizona (17-7)  		460  17


18. Stanford (10-6)  		457  18


19. California (16-5)  		455  27


20. Southern Miss. (18-5) 	454  25

21. Alabama (18-7)  		452  -


22. Arkansas (18-6)  		449  22


23. Central Florida (18-6) 	447  -


24. Mississippi St. (18-6) 	446  -


25. Louisiana St. (17-7) 	443  9


26. U.C. Irvine (14-6)  	440  11


27. Tulane (18-6)   		439  23


28. Wichita St. (17-8)  	437  24


29. Oregon St. (18-6)  		435  26


30. Stetson (20-5)  		434  28