Overall Record: 9-2
Last Week’s Results (4-0)
March 2 (Wed.) – at Nicholls State (W, 9-4)
March 4 (Fri.) – FORDHAM (W, 12-1)
March 5 (Sat. – Game 1) – FORDHAM (W, 15-1)
March 5 (Sat. – Game 2) – FORDHAM (W, 10-7)
This Week’s Schedule
March 8 (Tue.) – LOUISIANA TECH, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 9 (Wed.) – McNEESE STATE, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 11 (Fri.) – BALL STATE, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 12 (Sat.) – BALL STATE, 2 p.m. (SEC Network +)
March 13 (Sat.) – BALL STATE, 12 p.m. (SEC Network +)
Notes on the Tigers
LSU posted a 4-0 mark in last week’s games, including a series sweep over Fordham in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field … junior left-hander Jared Poche’ earned his second win of the season and the 20th of his career with seven shutout innings on Friday night against Fordham … Poche’ scattered eight hits while recording two walks and five strikeouts … the outing marked the 22nd quality start of Poche’s career; he had nine in 2014, 10 in 2015 and all three starts thus far in 2016 … Poche’ is 2-0 this season with a 0.92 ERA in 19.2 innings with eight walks, 18 strikeouts and a .215 opponent batting average … he is the fourth pitcher to record 20 or more career wins during head coach Paul Mainieri‘s 10-year tenure at LSU, joining Jared Bradford (20), Louis Coleman (24) and Aaron Nola (30) … second baseman Cole Freeman helped lead LSU to four wins in four games last week, batting a sizzling .667 (8-for-15) with one double, one RBI, five runs, four walks, three stolen bases and a .706 on-base percentage … Freeman also posted a perfect fielding percentage with 10 putouts and five assists … in the Tigers’ three-game series sweep over Fordham, Freeman batted .714 (5-for-7) with one RBI, three runs, four walks, two steals and a .750 on-base percentage … Freeman is LSU’s leading hitter this season, batting .459 (17-for-37) with two doubles, four RBI, nine steals and a .533 on-base percentage … the Tigers hit .352 (51-for-145) as a team in their four games last week with 10 doubles, three triples, five homers and 46 runs scored … sophomore first baseman Bryce Jordan hit .556 (5-for-9) in three games last week with one double, five runs and five RBI … junior centerfielder Jake Fraley batted .467 (7-for-15) last week with one triple, one homer, four RBI and six runs, and sophomore leftfielder Beau Jordan hit .400 (6-for-15) with three doubles, three runs and four RBI … freshman rightfielder Antoine Duplantis extended his hitting streak to 11 games, as he is the only LSU player to collect a hit in every game this season … Duplantis’ streak is the longest to start a season by an LSU player since former third baseman Conner Hale had a 16-game streak to start the 2015 season … freshman right-hander Caleb Gilbert earned his first collegiate win on Saturday over Fordham, as he worked 2.1 shutout innings in relief … Gilbert, who entered the game in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and LSU trailing 7-3, struck out the first batter he faced to end the inning … Gilbert allowed two hits in the outing with one walk and two strikeouts as he finished the game and preserved the 10-7 victory after LSU scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the lead … junior right-hander Alden Cartwright posted a relief win in the Tigers’ victory on Wednesday at Nicholls State …. Cartwright entered the game in the third inning and fired three shutout innings, allowing three hits with one walk and three strikeouts as the Tigers recorded a 9-4 victory.
Baseball America Top 25
Rank, Team, W-L, Previous
1. Florida, 12-1, 1
2. Texas A&M, 11-1, 2
3. Oregon State, 10-1, 3
4. Louisville, 9-2, 4
5. Vanderbilt, 10-1, 5
6. Miami (Fla.), 9-2, 6
7. LSU, 9-2, 7
8. TCU, 9-2, 9
9. California, 9-3, 10
10. Virginia, 7-4, 8
11. Oregon, 8-2, 11
12. North Carolina, 9-1, 12
13. Ole Miss, 10-1, 13
14. UCLA, 6-5, 14
15. Florida St. 8-3, 15
16. UL-Lafayette, 8-4, 16
17. NC State, 10-2, 18
18. Arkansas, 10-2, 17
19. Michigan, 7-3, 20
20. Georgia Tech, 11-0, 23
21. Houston, 6-5, 21
22. Oklahoma, 6-6, 22
23. Alabama, 10-2, NR
24. Mississippi State, 8-3, 24
25. East Carolina, 8-3, 25
Dropped out: (19) Coastal Carolina
Collegiate Baseball Top 30
Rank, Team (Record), Points, Previous
1. Florida (12-1), 495, 1
2. Vanderbilt (10-1), 493, 2
3. Texas A&M (11-1), 492, 3
4. Louisville (9-2), 489, 4
5. Miami, Fla. (9-2), 486, 5
6. Oregon St. (10-1), 484, 6
7. North Carolina (9-1), 482, 8
8. Oregon (8-2), 479, 7
9. Georgia Tech. (11-0), 475, 13
10. LSU (9-2), 473, 10
11. TCU (9-2), 472, 9
12. Missouri St. (9-1), 469, 12
13. Mississippi (10-1), 467, 17
14. Florida St. (8-3), 465, 11
15. Virginia (7-4), 462, 14
16. Florida Atlantic (9-1), 460, 15
17. Arkansas (10-2), 458, 16
18. California (9-3), 456, 30
19. NC State (10-2), 453, NR
20. Clemson (8-2), 451, NR
21. South Carolina (10-2), 450, 18
22. UC Santa Barbara (9-3), 447, 19
23. UCLA (6-5), 445, 21
24. Alabama (10-2), 444, 22
25. Dallas Baptist (8-3), 442, NR
26. Mississippi St. (8-3-1), 439, 23
27. Michigan (7-3), 436, 26
28. East Carolina (8-3), 434, 25
29. Tulane (7-4), 432, 27
30. Long Beach St. (7-4), 428, 20
USA Today Coaches Top 25
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), Record, Points, Previous
1, Florida (30), 12-1, 750, 1
2, Vanderbilt, 10-1, 706, 3
3, Texas A&M, 11-1, 671, 4
4, Oregon State, 10-1, 649, 8
5, Louisville, 9-2, 622, 2
6, Miami, 9-2, 525, 6
7, North Carolina, 9-1, 513, 20
8, LSU, 9-2, 500, 5
9, TCU, 9-2, 481, 11
10, Oregon, 8-2, 474, 15
11, NC State, 10-2, 430, 19
12, California, 9-3, 417, 12
13, Mississippi, 10-1, 403, 37
14, Arkansas, 10-2, 354, 22
15, Florida State, 8-3, 307, 14
16, South Carolina, 10-2, 260, 23
17, Georgia Tech, 11-0, 195, 33
18, Virginia, 7-4, 192, 7
19, UCLA, 6-5, 116, 9
20, East Carolina, 8-3, 115, 53
21, Missouri State, 9-1, 112, 25
22, Florida Atlantic, 9-1, 106, 42
23, Mississippi State, 8-3-1, 104, 17
24, UL-Lafayette, 8-4, 96, 13
25, Alabama, 10-2, 88, NR
Others Receiving Votes
Clemson 76; Fresno State 73; Cal State Fullerton 65; UC-Santa Barbara 49; Michigan State 28; Houston 27; Dallas Baptist 25; Cal Poly 21; Gardner-Webb 19; Oklahoma State 18; Brigham Young 16; Long Beach State 16; North Carolina-Wilmington 15; Coastal Carolina 15; Bryant 11; Missouri 10; Michigan 10; Stanford 10; Texas Tech 10; Tennessee 9; South Alabama 9; Southern California 8; Texas 7; Southern Mississippi 6; New Orleans 5; Boston College 2; Rice 2; Wofford 2.
D1Baseball.com Top 25
Rank, School, Record, Previous
1, Florida, 12-1, 1
2, Vanderbilt, 10-1, 2
3, Texas A&M, 11-1, 3
4, Oregon State, 10-1, 4
5, Louisville, 9-2, 5
6, North Carolina, 9-1, 6
7, LSU, 9-2, 7
8, NC State, 10-2, 8
9, Oregon, 8-2, 9
10, Miami, 9-2, 10
11, TCU, 9-2, 11
12, California, 9-3, 12
13, Ole Miss, 10-1, 17
14, Arkansas, 10-2, 14
15, Florida State, 8-3, 15
16, East Carolina, 8-3, 16
17, South Carolina, 10-2, 13
18, Virginia, 7-4, 19
19, UCLA, 6-5, 21
20, Mississippi State, 8-3-1, 20
21, Georgia Tech, 11-0, NR
22, Clemson, 8-2, NR
23, Cal State Fullerton, 6-4, 23
24, UL-Lafayette, 8-4, 24
25, Oklahoma State, 6-6, 25
Dropped out: Coastal Carolina, Southern California
Others considered: Alabama, Florida Atlantic, Fresno State, Long Beach State, UNC Wilmington
Perfect Game Top 25
Rank, Team, Record, Previous
1, Florida, 12-1, 1
2, Vanderbilt, 10-1, 2
3, Texas A&M, 11-1, 3
4, Oregon State, 10-1, 4
5, Louisville, 9-2, 5
6, LSU, 9-2, 6
7, Oregon, 8-2, 7
8, Texas Christian, 9-2, 8
9, North Carolina, 9-1, 9
10, NC State, 10-2, 10
11, California, 9-3, 11
12, Miami, 9-2, 12
13, Mississippi, 10-1, 15
14, Virginia, 7-4, 13
15, Florida State, 8-3, 14
16, UCLA, 6-5, 18
17, UL-Lafayette, 8-4, 17
18, Arkansas, 10-2, 16
19, Missouri, 11-3, 19
20, Houston, 6-5, 21
21, Mississippi State, 8-3-1, 22
22, Coastal Carolina, 6-5, 20
23, Oklahoma State, 6-6, 24
24, Michigan, 7-3, 25
25, Texas Tech, 8-5, 23