Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 4-21-14

CAL. POLY NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

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

It marks the first time in history the Mustangs have been ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball top 30 poll which dates back to the 1959 season. Cal. Poly, 34-5, swept Cal. St. Fullerton three straight over the past weekend and has won 10 straight games (24 of its last 26).

The Mustangs have a superb 2.73 team ERA as the pitching staff nearly has a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio (367 strikeouts, 133 walks). Defensively, Cal. Poly has a .981 fielding percentage with only 28 errors in 39 games. Only 18 stolen bases have been allowed in 39 attempts. Offensively, the team is averaging 6.2 runs per game.

Louisiana-Lafayette, ranked No. 1 in the previous poll, was 2-1 last week with a loss to Texas-Arlington as the Ragin’ Cajuns slipped to third.   

Poll Notes: Several other teams have been red-hot. Oregon has won nine in a row while Florida has won six straight and eight of its last 10. Indiana has won 13 of its last 14, Rice seven of its last eight while New Mexico has won eight consecutive and Liberty nine of its last 10.

In key series over the weekend, Virginia won two of three at home against North Carolina, Cal. Poly swept three at home against Cal. St. Fullerton, Texas Christian swept a 3-game series in Austin against Texas, Louisville lost to Kentucky and then lost two of three at Central Florida, Louisiana St. won two of three at Mississippi, and Arkansas won two of three against Vanderbilt.

Six teams fell out of the poll in UNLV (0-4 last week), San Diego (0-4), Arizona St. (2-2), Houston (3-1), Cal. St. Fullerton (5 straight losses), Georgia Tech. (2-2).

New to the poll is Texas Christian (3 wins at Texas), Kentucky (1 win over Louisville and two wins at Texas A&M), Arkansas (took two of three against Vanderbilt), New Mexico (won 9 of its last 10, leads Mountain West with 14-4 record), Central Florida (leads the American Athletic Conference at 12-3) and Liberty (31-9 overall, 16-1 to lead Big South Conference).

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 21, 2014)

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  National Players Of The Week

• RHP Jeff Hoffman, East Carolina: Hoffman struck out a career-high 16 batters with one walk and three hits over eight scoreless innings during a 1-0 win over Middle Tennessee. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.   

• RHP Reed Reilly, Cal. Poly: Cal. Poly’s closer has been unhittable over his last four outings. In nine total innings, he has faced 29 batters and retired 27 with 16 strikeouts and has given up no runs and no hits. Against Cal. St. Fullerton, he entered a game with the score tied and a runner at third with one out in the ninth. He struck out the first batter, intentionally walked the second and struck out the third. The game went 13 innings, and Cal. Poly won, 4-3. He faced 15 Fullerton batters and retired 14.

• 3B Chesny Young, Mercer: Young led Mercer to a 3-game sweep of Northern Kentucky as he went 8-for-10 at the plate with 8 RBI.

• RF Spencer Draws, Air Force: Draws was 10-for-15 at the plate with 5 doubles, scored 7 runs and drove in 5 as he led the Falcons to a perfect 4-0 week, including a 3-game sweep of UNLV.   

• LHP Ross Vance, West Virginia: In his first career start, Vance struck out 14 Ohio State batters during a 4-1 win. He pitched a complete game and allowed only one run with one walk. If that wasn’t enough, he picked off two runners.

• LHP Timothy Buchanan, Southern Arkansas: Buchanan threw a 7-inning no-hitter against Southern Nazarene in a 12-0 win. It was the fifth no-hitter in school and first since 2009. Buchanan struck out 12 batters.