BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU is ranked No. 7 in the 2016 Collegiate Baseball newspaper preseason poll released Monday, marking the fifth straight season the Tigers will begin the year among the Top 10 teams in the nation.
The Tigers, who have the most wins (204) in the nation over the past four seasons, won the SEC championship last season and advanced to the College World Series for the second time in three years.
LSU is one of four Southeastern Conference teams appearing in the 2016 preseason Top 10, along with No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Texas A&M.
Other SEC squads appearing in the Top 40 are No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 24 Arkansas, No. 29 Kentucky, No. 34 Missouri and No. 35 South Carolina. LSU’s non-conference opponents appearing in the poll are No. 6 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 19 Tulane and No. 27 Notre Dame.
LSU opens the 2016 season at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 19 versus Cincinnati in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
“The release of the preseason rankings always generates a lot of excitement, and it means the season is less than two months away” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri, who has directed the Tigers to one national championship, four College World Series appearances, three SEC overall titles, five SEC division titles and five SEC tournament championships in nine seasons. “Four SEC teams in the Top 7 and nine league teams in the Top 35 are indications of how balanced and competitive the conference race will be.
“The fact that we’re ranked No. 7 is sign of respect for our program, considering we have to replace so many players from last year’s lineup. We’re proud of the recognition, now it’s our job to uphold our tradition of excellence.”
The 2016 LSU roster includes 17 lettermen from the 2015 club, including five position players with starting experience and 11 pitchers that recorded innings last season. The Tigers, however, must replace eight of nine everyday starters from last season’s batting order.
The LSU veterans are complemented by a talented class of 16 newcomers, including 10 position players, five pitchers and one two-way player. The incoming class was rated No. 7 in the nation in the annual Collegiate Baseball recruiting rankings.
LSU completed its fall practice session in November, and the Tigers will begin preseason workouts on January 29.
The LSU pitching staff is led by sophomore right-hander Alex Lange, the 2015 National Freshman Pitcher of the Year who last season posted a 12-0 mark with a 1.97 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 114 innings. Junior left-hander Jared Poche’, who was 9-2 last season with a 3.05 ERA, combines with Lange to give LSU the best returning 1-2 starting combination in the Southeastern Conference. Lange and Poche’ have a combined 30 career victories entering the 2016 season.
Other veteran pitchers back from last season include left-hander Hunter Devall, and right-handers Hunter Newman, Parker Bugg, Doug Norman, Jesse Stallings, Russell Reynolds, Collin Strall, Austin Bain and Alden Cartwright. Freshman left-hander Jake Latz, redshirted last season due to an arm injury, hopes to return to the mound in 2016.
The returning position players are led by outfielder Jake Fraley, who started 56 games last season and hit .307 (69-for-225) with 11 doubles, five triples, two homers, 35 RBI, 50 runs and 23 stolen bases.
Other players returning that made appearances in the LSU lineup last season include infielders Kramer Robertson, Bryce Jordan and Greg Deichmann, catcher Michael Papierski and outfielder Beau Jordan.
2016 Collegiate Baseball Preseason Rankings
Rank, Team (2015 Final Record), Points
1. Florida (52-18), 495
2. Louisville (47-18), 492
3. Vanderbilt (51-21), 489
4. Miami (Fla.) (50-17), 487
5. Texas A&M (50-14), 484
6. UL-Lafayette (42-23), 483
7. LSU (54-12), 481
8. Oregon St. (39-18-1), 480
9. Virginia (44-24), 475
10. UCLA (45-16), 473
11. Mississippi St. (24-30), 469
12. Cal. St. Fullerton (39-25), 467
13. California (36-21), 466
14. Oregon (38-25), 463
15. TCU (51-15), 461
16. Florida St. (44-21), 460
17. Missouri St. (49-12), 457
18. Houston (43-20), 455
19. Tulane (35-25), 453
20. Rice (37-22), 451
21. Georgia Tech (32-23), 449
22. North Carolina (34-24), 446
23. Michigan (39-25), 444
24. Arkansas (40-25), 443
25. Oklahoma St. (38-20), 438
26. Stony Brook (35-16-1), 436
27. Notre Dame (37-23), 434
28. Maryland (42-24), 432
29. Kentucky (30-25), 430
30. Pepperdine (32-29), 427
31. Dallas Baptist (46-15), 425
32. College of Charleston (45-15), 423
33. Coastal Carolina (39-21), 421
34. Missouri (30-28), 419
35. South Carolina (32-25), 417
36. San Diego St. (41-23), 414
37. South Alabama (37-20), 411
38. Winthrop (40-19), 409
39. Texas Tech (31-24), 407
40. Texas (30-27), 405
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Southern Cal (39-21), Southeastern Louisiana (42-17), Arizona St. (35-23), Florida Atlantic (42-19), Arizona (31-24), Oklahoma (34-27), Stanford (24-32), Auburn (36-26), Mississippi (30-28), Tennessee (24-26), Alabama (32-28), Georgia (26-28), San Diego (33-22), Iowa (41-18), Clemson (32-29), U.C. Irvine (33-23), Long Beach St. (28-26), U.C. Santa Barbara (40-17-1), Kent St. (31-22), Creighton (32-19), North Florida (45-16), Southern Mississippi (36-18-1), Nevada (41-15), Illinois (50-10-1), East Carolina (40-22), Wichita St. (26-33), New Mexico (32-27), Grand Canyon (32-22), Gonzaga (24-28), Loyola Marymount (33-21-1), Troy (30-25), Texas St. (24-32-1), Oral Roberts (41-16), Sam Houston St. (31-28), Wofford (39-22), Mercer (35-22), Samford (32-26), Central Florida (31-27), South Florida (34-26-1), Southeast Missouri (36-23), Bryant (29-25), Fresno St. (31-28), Central Michigan (35-22), Ball St. (33-25), Wright St. (43-17), N.C. Wilmington (41-18), Indiana (35-24), Radford (45-16), Liberty (33-23), St. John’s (41-16), Seton Hall (25-25), St. Louis (35-21), Stetson (29-30), Florida Gulf Coast (30-26-1), Lipscomb (39-20), Wake Forest (27-26), N.C. State (36-23), Connecticut (35-25).