Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 3-3-14

SOUTH CAROLINA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — South Carolina is ranked No. 1 in the latest Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I baseball poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The Gamecocks (10-0) swept a 3-game series over the past weekend against Clemson. It marks South Carolina’s first 10-0 start since the 2005 season. The Gamecocks have a 1.60 team ERA with 95 strikeouts in 90 innings. South Carolina’s defense has only committed seven errors in 10 games and limited opponents to 3 stolen bases. On offense, the Gamecocks are averaging 8.1 runs per game and have outscored opponents 81-17.

Louisiana St., ranked No. 1 last week, slipped to fourth after posting a 2-2 record with losses to Louisiana-Lafayette and Yale.

Poll Notes: Several other teams have been red-hot. Tennessee has won 10 straight, Kentucky 7 in a row, Mississippi St., North Carolina, Seton Hall, San Diego and Fresno St. 6 consecutive, and Cal. St. Fullerton and Mississippi 5 straight. In key series over the past weekend, Cal. St. Fullerton swept a 3-game series at Oregon, Florida St. beat Miami, Fla. two of three in Tallahassee, Fla., Vanderbilt swept a 3-game series at home against Stanford, South Carolina swept a 3-game series against Clemson, Seton Hall swept a 3-game series at Arizona and Fresno St. swept a 3-game series at home against Texas A&M.

Five new teams are in the top 30 this week, including Seton Hall (7-2), San Diego (8-1), Fresno St. (9-2), Kentucky (9-2) and Kansas (11-1, best start in school history). Five teams fell out of the poll in Florida (1-3 last week), Arizona (0-3), Texas A&M (1-3), Texas Tech. (3-2), and Southern California (1-2).

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 March 3, 2014)
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National Players Of The Week

• RHP Jake Stinnett, Maryland: Stinnett fired the first no-hitter since 2008 for Maryland during a 4-0 win over Massachusetts. He faced only two batters over the minimum during the nine-inning contest, both of whom walked, while striking out nine. Stinnett retired the final 11 batters of the game.

• RHP Jeff Hoffman, East Carolina: Hoffman struck out a career-high 14 batters against Western Kentucky over eight innings. He allowed one unearned run in the game with 5 hits and a walk.   

• OF Max Murphy, Bradley: Murphy belted 3 home runs with 12 total bases to tie a single-game school record during an 11-5 win over Dayton. He hit three-fourths of the home run cycle by launching a 2-run blast in the first inning, a solo shot in the third and a 3-run homer in the ninth. Murphy became the fifth player in Bradley history to hit 3 homers and total 12 bases in a single game. For the week, he was 6-for-12 at the plate with 6 RBI and 6 runs scored.

• LHP Harrison Musgrave, West Virginia: Musgrave retired the first 20 batters he faced en route to a 3-1 win over Duke. He struck out 12 batters over 8 innings of shutout pitching and allowed 2 hits, a double and a bunt single. He didn’t walk a batter.

• RHP Cody Poteet, UCLA: Poteet struck out 13 batters during a 5-0 win over Michigan during a complete game effort. He only allowed 2 hits while walking none.