FLORIDA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL
TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Florida (7-1) is ranked No.1 for the third straight Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I baseball poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.
The Gators won two of three at Miami (Fla.) over the past weekend in a showdown of top five teams in the nation. Earlier in the week, Florida won two against Eastern Michigan. The Gator pitching staff has a 2.54 ERA after eight games and has struck out 89 batters while only walking 21.
Poll Notes: In key series over the weekend, Mississippi beat Louisville two of three at home, East Carolina knocked off Virginia two of three on the road, North Carolina swept a 3-game series at home against Oklahoma St., Texas Christian beat Louisiana-Lafayette, Houston and Rice, Stanford split a 4-game series at Texas, Long Beach St. took two of three from Arizona St. at home and U.C. Santa Barbara captured the Tony Gwynn Classic with wins over San Diego, Bryant and Kentucky.
Six teams fell out of the top 30 this week in Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3), Houston (1-3), Arizona (2-2), Rice (2-3), Arizona St. (1-3) and Dallas Baptist (1-3). New to the poll is South Carolina (8-0), U.C. Santa Barbara (7-1), Long Beach St. (5-2), Mississippi St. (6-2), New Mexico (6-1) and East Carolina (6-1).
The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.
Collegiate Baseball NCAA Div. I Poll
(As of Feb. 29, 2016)
www.bigleaguechew.com
| Rank | Team (2016 Record) | Points | Pvs |
| 1. | Florida (7-1) | 495 | 1 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt (8-0) | 493 | 3 |
| 3. | Texas A&M (7-1) | 490 | 5 |
| 4. | Louisville (5-2) | 486 | 2 |
| 5. | Miami, Fla. (5-2) | 484 | 4 |
| 6. | Oregon St. (7-1) | 483 | 8 |
| 7. | Oregon (6-1) | 481 | 10 |
| 8. | North Carolina (5-1) | 478 | 13 |
| 9. | Texas Christian (6-1) | 475 | 15 |
| 10. | Louisiana St. (5-2) | 473 | 7 |
| 11. | Florida St. (5-1) | 471 | 11 |
| 12. | Missouri St. (5-1) | 468 | 12 |
| 13. | Georgia Tech. (7-0) | 466 | 17 |
| 14. | Virginia (4-3) | 463 | 9 |
| 15. | Florida Atlantic (7-0) | 461 | 18 |
| 16. | Arkansas (8-0) | 460 | 24 |
| 17. | Mississippi (6-1) | 458 | 29 |
| 18. | South Carolina (8-0) | 456 | — |
| 19. | U.C. Santa Barbara (7-1) | 453 | — |
| 20. | Long Beach St. (5-2) | 451 | — |
| 21. | UCLA (3-4) | 449 | 14 |
| 22. | Alabama (6-1) | 447 | 30 |
| 23. | Mississippi St. (6-2) | 445 | — |
| 24. | New Mexico (6-1) | 443 | — |
| 25. | East Carolina (6-1) | 442 | — |
| 26. | Michigan (5-2) | 439 | 19 |
| 27. | Tulane (4-3) | 436 | 20 |
| 28. | Stanford (5-3) | 434 | 21 |
| 29. | Cal. St. Fullerton (4-2) | 431 | 22 |
| 30. | California (5-2) | 428 | 26 |
NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
- OF Brandon Gutzler, Murray St.: Gutzler hit 5 home runs in 5 games and delivered 22 RBI as he went 12-for-21 at the plate. In the final game of a 4-game series against Northern Illinois, he belted 3 homers.
- DH/1B Nick Yarnall, Pittsburgh: Yarnall belted 5 home runs over three games against Grambling State as he went 8-for-14 with 6 runs scored and 8 RBI.
- LHP Joey Lucchesi, Southeast Missouri: Lucchesi threw seven perfect innings with 11 strikeouts against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He retired all 21 batters he faced in order, but Head Coach Steve Bieser felt it was too early in the season to push his innings and pitch count as Lucchesi was taken out of the game.
- SS Michael Bernal, Arkansas: Bernal belted 4 home runs as he went 8-for-20 with 11 RBI. Six of his eight hits were for extra bases as he also had two doubles.
- RHP David McKay, Florida Atlantic: McKay struck out a career-high 14 batters in seven innings against LIU Brooklyn which was the second highest total in school history. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning.
- C John Jones, South Carolina: Jones had a remarkable 3-game series against Penn State as he reached base in all 14 plate appearances while going 8-for-8 with 2 home runs, 6 walks and 10 RBI. In records going back to 1997, Jones is the only Gamecock in school history to start three games in a series and have a 1.000 on-base percentage.
- RHP Kevin Hill, South Alabama: Hill struck out 12 batters during a complete game, 9-inning win over Georgia. He had a perfect game into the sixth inning and didn’t issue a walk.
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