Collegiate Baseball Div 1 Poll (5-15-23)

WAKE FOREST NO. 1 IN CB’S LATEST POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — Wake Forest (42-8) is ranked No. 1 for the second time this season in Collegiate Baseball’s NCAA Division I baseball poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The Demon Deacons clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with a 20-6 league record by winning two of three at Florida St.

Wake Forest leads the nation in three pitching categories, including ERA (2.53), strikeout to walk ratio (4.40) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.9). They are also No. 2 in shutouts with 8. Offensively, the Demon Deacons have belted 99 homers and hit 109 doubles.

In key series across the USA, Louisiana St. lost two of three at home to Mississippi St., Arkansas won two of three at home against South Carolina, Florida swept three from Vanderbilt at home, Duke lost two of three at home to Georgia Tech., Virginia swept three from Louisville at home, West Virginia took two of three from Texas Tech. at home, Oklahoma St. won two of three from Kansas St. at home, Clemson beat Coastal Carolina on the road and then swept a 3-game series at Virginia Tech., Cal. St. Fullerton lost three at home to U.C. San Diego, Kentucky lost two of three at Tennessee, Oregon St. won two of three at UCLA and Alabama won two of three at Texas A&M.

Poll Notes: Several teams are on impressive winning streaks, including Southern Mississippi (13), Oral Roberts (12), Clemson (8), East Carolina (7), Virginia (6) and Dallas Baptist (5).

Two teams fell out of the top 30 in Cal. St. Fullerton (6 straight losses) and Houston (one loss to Rice).

New to the poll is Boston College (32-16) and East Carolina (38-14).

Six other teams just missed being ranked in the top 30 in Washington (32-14, 16-10 Pac-12, 6 straight wins), U.C. San Diego (30-18, 18-9 Big West), Indiana (38-14, 15-6 Big Ten, 7 straight wins), North Carolina (33-17, 14-11 ACC, 5 straight wins), Texas (35-18, 12-9 Big 12) and Southern California (31-20-1, 16-11 Pac-12, 5 straight wins).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball’s
NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll
(As of May 15, 2023)
Presented Bywww.bigleaguechew.com

Collegiate Baseball’s
National Players Of The Week
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RHP Paul Skenes, Louisiana St.: Skenes fanned 13 Mississippi St. batters over 7 innings and allowed 1 run. He improved to 10-1 on the season with a nation-leading 152 strikeouts.  

LF Alberto Rios, Stanford: Rios hit 4 home runs with 2 doubles, 7 runs scored and 11 RBI as he went 10-for-18 at the plate.

CF T.J. Reeves, Jacksonville St.: Reeves belted 4 home runs, including 2 grand slams, as he recorded 13 RBI as he went 6-for-14 with 5 runs scored.

3B Kerrington Cross, Cincinnati: Cross hit 4 home runs with 8 RBI and 6 runs scored as he went 6-for-16.

1B Billy Amick, Clemson: Amick went 11-for-20 at the plate with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 9 RBI and scored 8 runs.

INF Travis Bazzana, Oregon St.: Bazzana collected 11 RBI over 4 games as he hit 3 homers, 2 doubles and went 10-for-19 with 3 stolen bases.

1B Derek Bender, Coastal Carolina: Bender hit 3 home runs with 8 RBI and scored 6 runs as he went 9-for-21.

3B Tommy White, Louisiana St.: White hit 4 doubles, 2 homers, scored 6 runs and drove in 9 RBI as he went 11-for-18.

RHP Nathanial Tate, East Tennessee St.: Tate fired his third complete game of the season, going 9 innings with 11 strikeouts and only 4 hits allowed.