BATON ROUGE, La. — Defending Southeastern Conference champion LSU is ranked No. 2 in the 2004 Baseball America magazine pre-season poll.
The Tigers, who return eight starting position players and seven pitchers from their 2003 College World Series club, are second in the poll behind top-ranked Rice, the defending NCAA champion.
LSU finished the 2003 season ranked No. 5 by Baseball America.
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.
Miami (Fla.) is No. 3 in the 2004 rankings, followed by Cal State Fullerton, Georgia Tech, Stanford, South Carolina, Texas, Long Beach State and Tulane.
LSU plays at No. 7 South Carolina March 19-21 in a three-game SEC series. The Tigers face No. 10 Tulane three times during the ’04 campaign–March 2 at Zephyr Field in Metairie, April 6 in Alex Box Stadium and April 27 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
Other LSU opponents in the Baseball America Top 25 include No. 12 Auburn and No. 17 Ole Miss. LSU plays three-game league series at Auburn on April 2-4 and at Ole Miss May 21-23.
LSU outfielders Jon Zeringue and J.C. Holt were named to the 2004 Baseball America pre-season All-America team.
Zeringue, a junior from Thibodaux, La., was voted to the second team. Holt, a junior from Sieper, La., was a third-team selection.
Zeringue earned second-team all-SEC honors last season as the Tigers’ right fielder, batting .339 (77-for-227) with 15 doubles, 13 homers and 45 RBI. He was LSU’s leading hitter during the second half of the season (34 games) with a .382 average.
Holt, the 2003 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Most Outstanding Player, hit .299 last season with 11 doubles, two triples, five homers, 36 RBI, 51 runs and 16 stolen bases. The Tigers’ center fielder was also voted in August the MVP of the Cape Cod League, the wooden-bat summer league for the nation’s top collegiate players. Holt batted a league-high .388 (52-for-134) in the CCBL with six doubles, one triple, one homer, 19 RBI, 25 runs and 13 steals.
2004 Baseball America Top 25
Team 2003 Record
1. Rice 58-12
2. Louisiana State 45-22
3. Miami 45-17
4. Cal State Fullerton 50-16
5. Georgia Tech 44-18
6. Stanford 51-18
7. South Carolina 45-22
8. Texas 50-20
9. Long Beach State 41-20
10. Tulane 44-19
11. Clemson 39-22
12. Auburn 42-21
13. Baylor 45-23
14. Wichita State 49-27
15. North Carolina 42-23
16. Arizona 35-23
17. Mississippi 35-27
18. Arizona State 54-14
19. Notre Dame 45-18
20. Florida 37-21
21. Texas A&M 45-19
22. Florida State 54-13
23. Florida Atlantic 47-16
24. Nebraska 47-18
25. North Carolina State 45-18