BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU is ranked No. 3 in the 2004 Collegiate Baseball magazine pre-season poll released Friday.
The Tigers, who return eight starting position players and seven pitchers from their 2003 College World Series club, received 491 points in the poll to place third behind Rice and Miami (Fla.), which finished tied for first with 495 points.
LSU finished the 2003 season ranked No. 7 by Collegiate Baseball.
Georgia Tech is No. 4 in the 2004 rankings, followed by Texas, Stanford, Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Wichita State and Notre Dame.
LSU’s 2004 opponents ranked among Collegiate Baseball’s Top 40 teams are No. 13 Tulane, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 18 Auburn, No. 27 Ole Miss, No. 30 Mississippi State, No. 35 Alabama and No. 38 Tennessee.
LSU will play a total of 21 games against teams ranked in the pre-season Top 40.
LSU outfielder Ryan Patterson and first baseman Clay Harris were named to the 2004 Collegiate Baseball pre-season all-America team.
Patterson, a junior from Rowlett, Texas, was voted to the first team. Harris, a junior from Slidell, La., was a third-team selection.
Patterson earned first-team all-SEC honors last season as the Tigers’ primary designated hitter, batting .350 (92-for-263) with 20 doubles, one triple, 16 homers and 51 RBI. He was voted to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team, and he was named the state’s Newcomer of the Year by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association.
Harris, also a 2003 first-team all-SEC selection, tied Patterson for the team lead in home runs with 16. Harris hit .332 (70-for-211) with 16 doubles and 62 RBI, and he was voted second-team all-Louisiana by the LSWA.
LSU opens the 2004 regular season at Central Florida on Friday, Feb. 13, in the first game of a three-game series.
The Tigers’ home opener is on Wednesday, Feb. 18, when LSU plays host to Louisiana-Monroe at 3 p.m. in Alex Box Stadium.
2004 Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season Top 40
(2003 record in parentheses)
1t. Rice (58-12)
1t. Miami, Fla. (45-17-1)
3. LSU (45-22-1)
4. Georgia Tech (44-18)
5. Texas (50-20)
6. Stanford (51-18)
7. Arizona St. (54-14)
8. Cal. St. Fullerton (50-16)
9. Wichita St. (49-27)
10. Notre Dame (45-18)
11. Baylor (45-23)
12. Long Beach St. (41-20)
13. Tulane (44-19)
14. South Carolina (45-22)
15. Florida (37-21-1)
16. Southern California (28-28)
17. Clemson (39-22)
18. Auburn (42-21)
19. Florida Atlantic (47-16)
20. Nebraska (47-18)
21. North Carolina (42-23)
22. Arizona (35-23)
23. Washington (42-18)
24. Florida St. (54-13-1)
25. Minnesota (40-22)
26. Nevada-Las Vegas (47-17)
27. Mississippi (35-27)
28. Winthrop (35-22)
29. North Carolina St. (45-18)
30. Mississippi St. (42-20-1)
31. Ohio St. (44-21)
32. Texas A&M (45-19)
33. Oklahoma St. (34-24)
34. U.C. Riverside (41-17)
35. Alabama (28-24)
36. Va. Commonwealth (46-13)
37. Southern Miss. (47-16)
38. Tennessee (31-24)
39. San Diego (32-30)
40. Stetson (41-24)
FIRST TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS
RHP Jeff Niemann, Rice (17-0, 1.70 ERA, 156 K, 35 BB)
RHP Jered Weaver, Long Beach St. (14-4, 1.96 ERA, 144 K, 20 BB)
LHP Jeremy Sowers, Vanderbilt (7-5, 2.50 ERA, 123 K, 29 BB)
RHP Wade Townsend, Rice (11-2, 2.20 ERA, 164 K, 46 BB)
RHP Philip Humber, Rice (11-3, 3.30 ERA, 138 K, 39 BB)
RHP Vern Sterry, North Carolina St. (11-0, 3.25 ERA, 124 K, 39 BB)
Relief Huston Street, Texas (15 SV, 8-1, 1.33 ERA, 69 K, 13 BB)
C Landon Powell, South Carolina (.339, 10 HR, 23 2B, 61 RBI)
1B Billy Becher, New Mexico St. (.420, 32 HR, 16 2B, 118 RBI)
2B Steve Sollmann, Notre Dame (.384, 16 2B, 38 SB)
3B Michael Griffin, Baylor (.350, 11 HR, 26 2B, 76 RBI)
SS Dustin Pedroia, Arizona St. (.404, 34 2B, 52 RBI)
OF Jeff Larish, Arizona St. (.372, 18 HR, 18 2B, 95 RBI)
OF Jordan Foster, Lamar (.417, 29 2B, 71 RBI)
OF Ryan Patterson, Louisiana St. (.350, 16 HR, 20 2B, 51 RBI)
DH Ryan Gordon, N.C. Greensboro (.416, 20 2B, 50 RBI, 20 SB)
UT Stephen Head, Mississippi (.337, 10 2B, 44 RBI, 13 SV as pitcher, 1.40 ERA)
SECOND TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS
LHP Glen Perkins, Minnesota
RHP Jason Windsor, Cal. St. Fullerton
RHP Dustin Miller, Cal. St. Fullerton
RHP Chris Niesel, Notre Dame
LHP J.D. Cockroft, Miami (Fla.)
LHP Randy Beam, Florida Atlantic
LHP J.P. Howell, Texas
Relief Will Fenton, Washington
C Jeff Clement, Southern California
1B C.J. Smith, Florida
2B Eric Patterson, Georgia Tech.
3B Neil Sellers, Eastern Kentucky
SS Stephen Drew, Florida St.
OF Jeff Frazier, Rutgers
OF Sam Fuld, Stanford
OF Drew Moffitt, Wichita St.
UT Micah Owings, Georgia Tech.
THIRD TEAM PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS
RHP Chris Lambert, Boston College
RHP Clayton Jerome, Texas Christian
RHP Justin Verlander, Old Dominion
RHP Matt Durkin, San Jose St.
RHP Justin Orenduff, Virginia Commonwealth
RHP Jason Bolinski, Richmond
LHP Brent Carter, Alabama
RHP Michael Rogers, North Carolina St.
RHP Mike Pelfrey, Wichita St.
RHP Steven Carter, Coastal Carolina
LHP Mark Romanczuk, Stanford
Relief Steven Register, Auburn
Relief Ryan Schroyer, San Diego St.
Relief Joey Devine, North Carolina St.
Relief Zane Carlson, Baylor
Relief Joey Charron, Tulane
C Jason Jaramillo, Oklahoma St.
C Aaron Hathaway, Washington
1B Jim Fasano, Richmond
1B Ryan Baty, Kansas
1B Clay Harris, Louisiana St.
1B Rusty Brown, Florida Atlantic
2B Kevin Melillo, South Carolina
2B Tug Hulett, Auburn
3B Eddy Martinez-Esteve, Florida St.
3B Brett Carroll, Middle Tennessee St.
3B Brad McCann, Clemson
SS Ryan Braun, Miami (Fla.)
SS Ranger Wiens, Brigham Young
SS Brent Lillibridge, Washington
OF Joey Prast, San Diego
OF Jeff Fiorentino, Florida Atlantic
OF Ben Harrison, Florida
OF Jeff Van Houten, Arizona
OF Darryl Lawhorn, East Carolina
OF Ryan McGraw, Coastal Carolina
OF Keith Brachold, Marist