Overall Record: 18-6
SEC: 3-3
Last Week’s Results (2-2)
March 20 (Tue.) – SOUTHERN (W, 15-5)
March 23 (Fri.) – at Auburn (L, 3-4)
March 24 (Sat.) – at Auburn (L, 2-3 in 10 innings)
March 25 (Sun.) – at Auburn (W, 4-3)
Notes on the Tigers
Five of LSU’s six SEC games played this season have been decided by one run; the Tigers are 3- 2 in the one-run league contests … LSU played two extra-inning games through its first 23 games of this season – the Tigers did not play a single extra-inning game in 2011 … junior rightfielder Raph Rhymes leads the SEC with a .473 (43-for-91) cumulative batting average … Rhymes hit .455 (5-for-11) in last weekend’s series at Auburn with two RBI and one run scored … in four games last week, Rhymes batted .467 (7-for-15) with one double, three RBI and one run scored … Rhymes is batting .500 (5-for-10) in LSU’s six SEC games with two RBI and one run scored … freshman right-hander Aaron Nola delivered an excellent performance in his second career SEC start on Sunday at Auburn … Nola limited Auburn to three runs on eight hits in 7.1 innings with no walks and two strikeouts … Nola left in the eighth inning with the game tied at 3-3 – LSU scored in the top of the 9th to earn a 4-3 victory … junior left-hander Chris Cotton, who relieved Nola in the eighth and retired Auburn’s No. 3 and 4 hitters, was credited with the win, marking his first career SEC victory … sophomore right-hander Kurt McCune earned his first career save in Sunday’s victory, working a scoreless ninth inning with one strikeout … catcher Ty Ross batted .417 (5-for-12) in the Auburn series with two RBI … in the Tigers’ four games last week, Ross hit .467 (7-for-15) with four RBI and one run scored … junior first baseman Mason Katz batted .400 (6-for-15) in four games last week with two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored … Katz was 4-for-12 in the Auburn series with one double, two RBI and one run scored … second baseman JaCoby Jones provided five hits in four games last week, including the game-winning single in the top of the ninth inning Sunday at Auburn … Jones has the game-winning hit in two of LSU’s three SEC wins – he delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning on March 16 versus Mississippi State … sophomore right-hander Ryan Eades produced a solid start in Saturday’s game at Auburn, as he limited the Plainsmen to just two runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings with four walks and four strikeouts … LSU will play a “Pink Game” to promote breast cancer research when the Tigers face Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Alex Box Stadium … the Tigers will wear pink batting helmets and pink wristbands during the game.
Baseball America Top 25
Rk. Team, W-L, Last Week, Prev.
1. Florida, 22-2, 3-1, 1
2. Stanford, 15-2, 2-0, 2
3. Arkansas, 22-3, 3-1, 3
4. Florida State, 21-3, 5-1, 6
5. North Carolina, 18-5, 2-1, 4
6. UCLA, 17-4, 2-0, 7
7. Texas A&M, 19-5, 3-0, 10
8. Arizona, 18-7, 2-3, 5
9. Rice, 18-8, 3-2, 9
10. Kentucky, 24-1, 3-1, 16
11. South Carolina, 17-7, 2-3, 8
12. Miami, 19-5, 3-1, 12
13. Cal State Fullerton, 14-8, 2-1, 13
14. Arizona State, 15-8, 3-1, 14
15. LSU, 18-6, 2-2, 11
16. Mississippi, 17-7, 2-2, 17
17. Central Florida, 19-6, 3-1, 21
18. Texas, 13-9, 3-1, 22
19. Purdue, 16-4, 2-1, 25
20. North Carolina State, 16-5, 1-2, 20
21. Baylor, 18-7, 4-0, NR
22. Oregon State, 15-7, 1-2, 19
23. Oregon, 15-6, 2-1, 24
24. San Diego, 20-6, 3-0, NR
25. Georgia, 17-8, 2-2, 18
Dropped out: Georgia Tech (15), Texas State (23).
USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ Poll
Rank School (record) Points rank votes
1. Florida (22-2) 775 1 31
2. Stanford (15-2) 736 2 0
3. Arkansas (22-3) 699 3 0
4. Florida State (21-3) 677 4 0
5. North Carolina (18-5) 609 5 0
6. Texas A&M (19-5) 581 10 0
7. Kentucky (24-1) 573 6 0
8. Miami (Fla.) (19-5) 544 9 0
9. UCLA (17-4) 528 12 0
10. South Carolina (17-7) 489 8 0
11. Rice (18-8) 472 7 0
12. Arizona (18-7) 430 11 0
13. Cal State-Fullerton (14-8) 330 15 0
14. LSU (18-6) 298 13 0
15. Louisville (18-6) 267 22 0
16. Oregon (15-6) 251 18 0
17. Central Florida (19-6) 217 21 0
18. Georgia (17-8) 195 17 0
19. Oregon State (15-7) 187 16 0
20. Mississippi (17-7) 179 19 0
21. Georgia Tech (15-9) 165 14 0
22. North Carolina State (16-5) 154 20 0
23. Baylor (18-7) 137 not ranked 0
24. Purdue (16-4) 127 24 0
25. Texas (13-9) 88 25 0
Dropped out: No. 23 TCU (12-9).
Others receiving votes: Liberty 57; Virginia 42; Auburn 38; San Diego 35; Missouri State 30; TCU 26; Campbell 18; Oklahoma 18; Cal Poly 12; Maryland 12; Mississippi State 12; New Mexico State 10; California 8; Gonzaga 8; UC-Irvine 8; East Carolina 7; Stetson 7; Pepperdine 5; Clemson 4; Southeastern Louisiana 4; Washington 3; Indiana State 2; College of Charleston 1.
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s NCAA Div. I Poll
Rank School (Record) Points Previous
1. Florida (22-2) 498 1
2. Kentucky (24-1) 493 2
3. Stanford (15-2) 492 3
4. Arkansas (22-3) 490 4
5. Florida St. (21-3) 487 5
6. North Carolina (18-5) 482 7
7. Miami, Fla. (19-5) 478 9
8. Texas A&M (19-5) 475 13
9. NC State (16-5) 473 11
10. Cal. St. Fullerton (14-8) 470 12
11. UCLA (17-4) 467 16
12. LSU (18-6) 465 8
13. Rice (18-8) 463 10
14. South Carolina (17-7) 461 6
15. Arizona (18-7) 459 14
16. Oregon (15-6) 457 17
17. Arizona St. (15-8) 455 18
18. Baylor (18-7) 453 27
19. Texas (13-9) 450 21
20. Louisville (18-6) 448 22
21. Central Florida (19-6) 447 28
22. Purdue (16-4) 444 24
23. Oregon St. (15-7) 442 25
24. Auburn (15-9) 440 –
25. Coastal Carolina (19-6) 438 –
26. Georgia (17-8) 435 23
27. Mississippi (17-7) 433 26
28. Sam Houston St. (14-9) 430 –
29. Missouri St. (19-6) 427 –
30. St. Louis (19-5) 424 –