Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 4-15-13

NORTH CAROLINA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — North Carolina (34-2) is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s NCAA Division I baseball poll after winning nine consecutive games.

The Tar Heels have been ranked at the top of the poll eight of the last nine weeks. Louisiana St. (34-3), ranked No. 1 last week, slipped to second after winning two of three at Arkansas. The Tigers have won 16 of their last 17 games.

No. 3 Vanderbilt (33-4) has won 14 straight and leads the Southeastern Conference with a 14-1 record.

Poll Notes: Several other teams have also been hot. Florida, with an extremely young team, started the season 11-16. But the Gators have won 8 of their last 10 which includes an impressive win against at Florida St. last week and three straight wins against South Carolina as Florida sits at 19-18 overall and 8-7 in the SEC and tied for fourth. Clemson has won 10 straight along with N.C. State. Bryant has the longest winning streak in the nation at 18 in a row. Coastal Carolina has won 9 straight while South Florida has won 8 consecutive.

Six teams fell out of the top 30 this week, including Indiana (1-3), Notre Dame (5 straight losses), Alabama (2-3), Texas A&M (1-3), Florida Gulf Coast (0-4) and Creighton (0-3). New to the poll is Florida, Mississippi (swept a 3-game series from Alabama), Pittsburgh (swept three from Notre Dame), Coastal Carolina (won nine in a row), South Florida (won 8 straight), and Bryant (won 18 in a row).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

• C Michael Marietta, Central Arkansas: Marietta had an incredible game against Grambling State as he went 7-for-7 at the plate with 3 homers, 3 doubles and a school record 11 RBI and 6 runs scored. Among his trio of homers, he belted a grand slam in the seventh and shattered the school record of 12 total bases, finishing with 20 and added a stolen base for good measure.

• RHP Ryan Jacobs, Penn State Behrend: Jacobs became the first pitcher in school history to throw a perfect game during a 1-0 win over Mount Aloysius in seven innings. Jacobs fanned six batters.

• RHP Austin Robichaux, Louisiana-Lafayette: Robichaux struck out 14 Arkansas-Little Rock batters during a 9-inning complete game 9-2 win over UALR. At one point, he retired 16 straight batters.

• OF Brandon Murray, College of Charleston: Murray set a new school record with 9 RBI during an 18-5 win over Davidson. He belted a grand slam, a 3-run homer and a 2-run double to lead the Cougars’ offense. He finished the series with 4 homers and 13 RBI to go with 3 walks.

• DH Joe Purritano, Dartmouth: Purritano belted 4 homers, 2 doubles, a triple and recorded 11 RBI in five games as he went 10-for-19 at the plate.