Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 4-20-15

LSU NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL 

TUCSON, Ariz. — Louisiana St. (34-6) is ranked No. 1 for the first time this season in the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The Tigers have won 11 of their last 12 and four in a row as they are tied for first in the Southeastern Conference with a 12-5 mark. LSU is averaging 7.2 runs per game and is hitting .320 with 147 extra base hits. The Tigers have stolen 70 bases in 88 attempts while holding opponents to only 31. The pitching staff has a 2.93 ERA.

Texas A&M, ranked No. 1 for the past four weeks, slipped to fourth after posting a 2-2 week. The Aggies lost two of three at home to Arkansas. However, the Aggies are still tied for No. 1 in the SEC with a 12-5 record.

In key series over the past weekend, UCLA beat California two of three at home, South Carolina beat Vanderbilt at home, Florida won three straight at Mississippi St. and Oregon St. beat Arizona two of three at home,

Poll Notes: Several teams have been red-hot. Illinois has won 13 in a row, Louisiana St. 11 of its last 12 and Florida St., Texas Christian and Nevada 4 straight. Four teams fell out of the top 30 this week in Central Florida 1-3 last week), Nebraska (3-2), Georgia Tech. (0-3) and Coastal Carolina (2-3). New to the poll is Florida Atlantic (31-9 overall), Dallas Baptist (29-8), Nevada (31-9) and Arkansas (24-17).

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

Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I Poll
(As of April 20, 2015) 

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NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

• DH Chris Marconcini, Florida St.: Marconcini belted 5 home runs over 4 games and delivered 13 RBI with 6 runs scored as he went 7-for-15 at the plate. What made the special week even more amazing is that he entered it with just one home run and 9 RBI on the season.
• DH Austin Edens, Samford: Edens hit 5 home runs and delivered 9 RBI over 4 games as he went 8-for-17. He added 2 doubles and scored 8 runs. Edens belted at least one home run in all 4 games
• C Keith Skinner, North Florida: Skinner played in only two games last week, but he knocked in 10 runs with 2 home runs (including a grand slam) as he went 5-for-8. He had a school record 9 RBIs against Jacksonville in one contest.
• RHP Mike King, Boston College: King fired a complete-game 1-hitter during a 1-0 win over Georgia Tech. He struck out a career-high 8 in his first 9 inning performance and did not walk a batter.
• LHP Luke Gillingham, Navy: Gillingham struck out 11 Lehigh batters and only allowed 1 hit during a 4-0 win. He now has allowed only 1 hit in 3 of his starts this season and increased his nation-leading strikeout total to 103 over 73 2/3 innings.
• LHP Matt Hall, Missouri St.: Hall struck out 13 Tennessee Martin hitters in eight innings during a 6-3 win over the Skyhawks. He retired the first 16 batters of the game.
• RHP Kyle Dowdy, Houston: Dowdy struck out a career-high 13 Cincinnati batters. He allowed only 2 hits and didn’t surrender a run or walk in the victory as he retired the first 12 Bearcat hitters of the game.
• LHP Tyler Wilson, Rhode Island: Wilson fired a 1-hitter during a complete-game shutout against Richmond. He only threw 85 pitches during the 9-inning outing and struck out 3.