BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball team recorded its fourth-straight weekend sweep and 12th-straight overall win in Houston, beating the then-No. 8 Cougars (4-2), Baylor (2-0) and Nebraska (4-2) at Minute Maid Park.
Overall Record: 15-1
Last Week’s Results (5-0)
March 3 (Tue.) – STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (W, 8-1)
March 4 (Wed.) – GRAMBLING, (W, 7-1)
*March 6 (Fri.) – vs. #8 Houston (W, 4-2)
*March 7 (Sat.) – vs. Baylor (W, 2-0)
*March 8 (Sun.) – vs. Nebraska (W, 4-2)
*- game played at Minute Maid Park in Houston
This Week’s Schedule
March 11 (Wed.) – McNEESE STATE, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 13 (Fri.) – OLE MISS, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 14 (Sat.) – OLE MISS, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
March 15 (Sun.) – OLE MISS, 3 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Notes on the Tigers
LSU is ranked No. 1 in the Baseball America magazine poll released Monday … the top-ranked Tigers have a 15-1 mark and are currently riding a 12-game win streak, including consecutive wins over Houston, Baylor and Nebraska last weekend in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park … the 12-game win streak is LSU’s longest since the 2013 Tigers won 15 straight games from late March through mid-April … the 2015 LSU team is the sixth Tiger squad to earn the top ranking during the nine-season tenure of coach Paul Mainieri; LSU has held the No. 1 position in at least one poll in six of the past seven seasons … the 2014 team held the top ranking for one week in late February, and the 2013 team was ranked No. 1 for one week in April and again in late May … the 2012 squad held a No. 1 ranking twice, once in mid-April and once in early June, and the 2010 squad was ranked No. 1 for three weeks … the 2009 team, which won the national championship, was ranked No. 1 in seven different weeks … freshman right-hander Alex Lange improved to 4-0 this season with a brilliant performance against Baylor Saturday in the Houston College Classic … Lange, who was named to the HCC All-Tournament team, fired seven shutout innings, limiting the Bears to seven singles with two walks and four strikeouts as LSU posted a 2-0 win, the Tigers’ first shutout this season … Lange lowered his cumulative ERA to 1.57 , as he’s allowed just four earned runs in 23 innings with eight walks and 26 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting just .207 against him … senior third baseman Conner Hale helped lead LSU to three straight wins in the Houston College Classic, batting .400 (4-for-10) with one double, one homer, five RBI and two runs scored … Hale, who was named to the HCC All-Tournament team, also extended his hitting streak to 16 games, as he has hit safely in each of the Tigers’ 16 games this season … for the entire week, including LSU wins over Stephen F. Austin and Grambling, Hale hit .316 (6-for-19) with two doubles, one triple, one homer and seven RBI … junior shortstop Alex Bregman was also voted to the HCC All-Tournament team, as he hit .385 (5-for-13) in three games with one double, three runs scored and three steals in three attempts … Bregman also played magnificent defense, posting a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 20 chances … freshman right-hander Jake Godfrey delivered his best performance of the season in defeating Nebraska on Sunday, working a career-high seven innings … Godfrey limited the Cornhuskers to two runs on eight hits with two walks and a career-best four strikeouts while firing 104 pitches … sophomore left-hander Jared Poche’ improved to 4-0 as he defeated No. 8 Houston on Friday night … Poche’ limited the Cougars to two runs on four hits in a season-high 7.2 innings with three walks and four strikeouts … freshman right-hander Jesse Stallings earned two saves over the weekend versus Houston and Baylor, increasing his season total to seven … Stallings has worked 7.2 innings in eight appearances, allowing no runs on two hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts.
Baseball America Top 25
Team, W-L, Previous Rank
1. LSU, 15-1, 2
2. Florida, 14-2, 4
3. Virginia, 12-1, 3
4. TCU, 10-2, 7
5. Vanderbilt, 11-4, 1
6. Central Florida, 14-2, 13
7. South Carolina, 12-3, 12
8. Oregon, 13-2, 19
9. Southern California, 15-1, 25
10. Texas A&M, 16-0, 22
11. UCLA, 11-4, 6
12. Rice, 11-6, 15
13. Louisville, 10-5, 17
14. Texas Tech, 10-4, 5
15. Mississippi State, 14-3, 9
16. Arizona State, 9-5, 18
17. North Carolina, 10-4, 20
18. Florida State, 13-3, 21
19. Miami, 10-6, 11
20. Dallas Baptist, 10-2, 23
21. UC Santa Barbara, 11-4, 24
22. Texas, 10-6, 14
23. Cal State Fullerton, 9-5, NR
24. Houston, 9-7, 8
25. Illinois, 11-3, NR
Dropped Out: Oklahoma State (10), Maryland (16)
Collegiate Baseball Top 30
Rank, Team (Record), Points, Previous
1. TCU (10-2), 494, 1
2. LSU (15-1), 493, 3
3. Virginia (12-1), 492, 2
4. Texas A&M (16-0), 490, 11
5. Florida (14-2), 488, 5
6. Southern California (15-1), 484, 20
7. Vanderbilt (11-4), 483, 4
8. Oregon (13-2), 481, 9
9. Central Florida (14-2), 478, 10
10. South Carolina (12-3), 476, 17
11. Florida St. (13-3), 473, 22
12. Cal. St. Fullerton (9-5), 469, 30
13. UCLA (11-4), 467, 7
14. Arizona St. (9-5), 460, 13
15. Texas Tech. (10-4), 457, 6
16. Mississippi St. (14-3), 453, 8
17. Texas (10-6), 452, 15
18. Rice (11-6), 450, 16
19. UC Santa Barbara (11-4), 449, 18
20. North Carolina (10-4), 447, 21
21. Louisville (10-5), 445, 24
22. Illinois (11-3-1), 443, 27
23. Oklahoma St. (8-6), 441, 14
24. Oregon St. (13-3), 439, NR
25. Miami, Fla. (10-6), 437, 23
26. Georgia Tech. (11-4), 435, 28
27. Notre Dame (11-3), 434, 25
28. Nevada (13-2), 432, 29
29. Florida Atlantic (14-2), 429, NR
30. Auburn (13-3), 427, NR
NCBWA Division I Poll
Rank, School, Record, Previous
1. Virginia, 12-1, 1
2. TCU, 10-2, 2
3. LSU, 15-1, 4
4. Florida, 14-2, 3
5. Oregon, 13-2, 8
6. Vanderbilt, 11-4, 5
7. South Carolina, 12-3, 10
8. Texas A&M, 16-0, 14
9. UCLA, 11-4, 6
10. Rice, 11-6, 11
11. North Carolina, 10-4, 16
12. UCF, 14-2, 18
13. Texas Tech, 10-4, 7
14. USC, 15-1, 23
15. Mississippi State, 14-3, 9
16. Texas, 10-6, 13
17. Florida State, 13-3, 22
18. Louisville, 10-5, 19
19. Miami, 10-6, 15
20. Arizona State, 9-5, 21
21. Houston, 9-7, 12
22. Florida Atlantic, 14-2, 25
23. UC Santa Barbara, 11-4, 26
24. Oklahoma State, 8-6, 17
25. Maryland, 8-4, 20
26. Dallas Baptist, 10-2, 29
27. Arizona, 15-4, NR
28. San Diego State, 13-3, 27
29. Illinois, 11-3-1, NR
30. Oregon State, 13-3, NR
Dropped out: Ole Miss (24), Alabama (28), Tulane (30).
Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (9-6), Arkansas (9-3), Auburn (13-3), Cal State Fullerton (9-5), Cal State Northridge (11-4), California (12-3), Campbell (13-2), Clemson (8-6), Georgia Southern (11-5), Georgia Tech (11-4), Kennesaw State (8-5), Louisiana-Lafayette (10-5), Milwaukee (8-3), Nevada (13-2), Ole Miss (8-6), San Diego (6-7), Stanford (9-8), Tulane (12-4), UNC Wilmington (9-4), Washington State (11-5).
Perfect Game Top 25
Rank, Team, Record, Previous
1, Florida, 14-2, 3
2, Virginia, 12-1, 2
3, Texas Christian, 10-2, 5
4, LSU, 15-1, 6
5, Vanderbilt, 11-4, 1
6, Oregon, 13-2, 9
7, South Carolina, 12-3, 8
8, Louisville, 10-5, 11
9, UCLA, 11-4, 4
10, Texas A&M, 16-0, 15
11, Florida State, 13-3, 16
12, North Carolina, 10-4, 17
13, Miami, 10-6, 10
14, UC Santa Barbara, 11-4, 18
15, UCF, 14-2, 19
16, Arkansas, 9-3, 20
17, Oregon State, 13-3, 23
18, Texas Tech, 10-4, 7
19, Texas, 10-6, 13
20, Florida Atlantic, 14-2, 25
21, Houston, 9-7, 12
22, Mississippi State, 14-3, 14
23, Southern California, 15-1, NR
24, Rice, 11-6, 21
25, Arizona State, 9-5, 22
Dropped Out: Maryland
D1Baseball.com Top 25
Rank, Team, Overall Record, Previous
1, Florida, 14-2, 2
2, TCU, 10-2, 6
3, Virginia, 12-1, 3
4, LSU, 15-1, 7
5, Vanderbilt, 11-4, 1
6, Texas A&M, 16-0, 14
7, South Carolina, 12-3, 5
8, Oregon, 13-2, 8
9, UCF, 14-2, 9
10, Rice, 11-6, 10
11, North Carolina, 10-4, 11
12, Arizona State, 9-5, 17
13, Southern California, 15-1, NR
14, UCLA, 11-4, 4
15, Louisville, 10-5, 20
16, Maryland, 8-4, 12
17, UC Santa Barbara, 11-4, 23
18, Texas, 10-6, 18
19, Illinois, 11-3-1, NR
20, Florida Atlantic, 14-2, 24
21, Florida State, 13-3, NR
22, Mississippi State, 14-3, 15
23, Cal State Fullerton, 9-5, NR
24, Texas Tech, 10-4, 13
25, Houston, 9-7, 16
Dropped Out:
Miami, 10-6, 19
Oklahoma State, 8-6, 21
Ole Miss, 8-6, 22
Tulane, 12-4, 25
Others Considered
Auburn, 13-3, NR
Dallas Baptist, 10-2, NR
Georgia Tech, 11-4, NR
Nevada, 13-2, NR
New Mexico, 9-3, NR
Oregon State, 13-3, NR