BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU is ranked No. 12 in the 2012 Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll released Monday.
The Tigers are one of six Southeastern Conference teams appearing in the Top 40, along with No. 1 Florida, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 18 Georgia and No. 23 Vanderbilt. Southern Mississippi, another LSU opponent this season, is No. 30 in the ranking.
LSU opens the 2012 season at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 17 versus Air Force in Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers, who captured the 2009 College World Series title, are seeking their third CWS appearance in the past five seasons.
The 2012 roster includes 21 lettermen, including 10 position players with starting experience and seven pitchers that recorded innings last season. The LSU veterans are complemented by a talented class of 15 newcomers, including five players that were selected in the 2011 Major League Draft.
LSU completed its six-week fall practice session in November, and the Tigers will begin preseason workouts in January.
“We learned this fall that we have the chance to be a dominant team on the mound,” sixth-year LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “We have a very deep and talented staff; we just need to decide upon the roles our pitchers will have coming out of the bullpen. We play outstanding defense and our catching behind the plate has really improved. Our hitters are very tough outs, and with our pitching and defense, we feel like we can be an excellent ball club.”
Mainieri said the Tigers displayed a tremendous work ethic and attitude throughout the fall workouts and scrimmages.
“We had a very intense fall practice period this year, and that’s what we expected coming off the disappointment of not being selected last year for the NCAA tournament,” he explained. “Our players entered the fall with a renewed hunger for success, and that was demonstrated in the way they worked every day. I think we’re a confident, more experienced team, and we’re very anxious to get started in the spring.”
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
2012 NCAA Div. I Pre-Season Top 40 Poll
Rank School (’11 Final Record) Points
1. Florida (53-19) 497
2. South Carolina (55-14) 494
3. Stanford (35-22) 490
4. North Carolina (51-16) 488
5. Texas (49-19) 485
6. Texas A&M (47-22) 484
7. Rice (42-21) 482
8. Arkansas (40-22) 479
9. Georgia Tech (42-21) 476
10. Texas Christian (43-19) 474
11. St. John’s (36-22) 470
12. LSU (36-20) 468
13. Florida St. (46-19) 465
14. Miami, Fla. (38-23) 464
15. Louisville (32-29) 460
16. Oklahoma (41-19) 458
17. Arizona St. (43-18) 457
18. Georgia (33-32) 455
19. UCLA (35-24) 454
20. Arizona (39-21) 452
21. Cal. St. Fullerton (41-17) 449
22. California (38-23) 447
23. Vanderbilt (54-12) 445
24. Oregon St. (41-19) 443
25. Clemson (43-20) 437
26. Stetson (43-20) 435
27. Oregon (33-26-1) 432
28. Baylor (31-28) 430
29. U.C. Irvine (43-18) 425
30. Southern Miss. (39-19) 422
31. Missouri St. (33-23) 419
32. College of Charleston (39-22) 417
33. Virginia (56-12) 413
34. Georgia Southern (36-26) 412
35. Texas St. (41-23) 408
36. Central Florida (39-23) 406
37. Wichita St. (39-26) 403
38. Jacksonville (37-24) 400
39. Florida International (40-20-1) 397
40. Southern California (25-31) 395